Before 1997 The annual address was first introduced in 1972 by
Governor Sir
Murray MacLehose during the
British rule of Hong Kong, and set out the government's legislative and policy agenda for the coming year. It was called the "Address by the Governor" () and was modelled after the
Queen's Speech during the
State Opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It aimed to strengthen communications with Hong Kong residents after the
1967 Hong Kong riots, and was widely broadcast via television and radio. Addresses by the Governor took place in October to mark the beginning of the legislative year. The address was renamed to its current Chinese name 施政報告 () in 1986. The English name of the event remained unchanged until the
Handover in 1997. Beginning with his first address in 1992, Governor
Chris Patten initiated the practice of giving each address a unique title. In 2002, after his
re-election as Chief Executive, Tung rescheduled the October 2002 address to January 2003, ostensibly to allow the newly appointed ministers under the
Principal Officials Accountability System to settle into their roles. As a result, no policy address was delivered in 2002. Tung continued to deliver his addresses in January until he resigned in March 2005. Tung's successor
Donald Tsang resumed the previous practice of giving the speech in October; as such, there were two Policy Addresses in 2005.
Leung Chun-ying pushed back his Policy Addresses to January, explaining the move by stating that he wished to give lawmakers more time to voice their opinions.
Carrie Lam delivered her Policy Addresses in October, except in 2020, which was rescheduled to 25 November to avoid clashing with
CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping's visit to Shenzhen. John Lee, who took office in 2022, has delivered his Policy Addresses in October. == Contemporary practice ==