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Parliament House

Initially it was planned to build Parliament House, in accordance with Walter Burley Griffin’s design of Canberra, before the first sitting of Federal Parliament in the city. Due to setbacks and problems with funding this could not be achieved, so a temporary or provisional Parliament House was constructed on the slopes of Capital Hill. This building was opened on 9 May 1927 and was used until ‘new’ Parliament House was opened on 9 May 1988. The first sitting of Federal Parliament in new Parliament House was on 22 August 1988. The original building is now called (for consistency) Old Parliament House.

New Parliament House was the result of an international design competition, with the winning design, by Romaldo Giurgola, conforming to the original thoughts of Burley Griffin. Many of Burley Griffin’s plans and drawings are on display at the National Archives of Australia.

The form of Parliament House derives from three main elements of Burley Griffin’s vision:

• the land axis
• the primary avenues defining the great triangle, and
• the circular form of the Capital Hill site.

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Features of Parliament House

Parliament House was purpose-built to accommodate the particular needs of Parliament as well as the many other activities that take place in supporting the parliamentary process. Government

Some features of the House are described below.

• House of Representatives Chamber
• Senate Chamber
• The Cabinet Room
• The Prime Minister’s Office

House of Representatives Chamber

The green of the House of Representatives Chamber is based on the traditional Westminster green, but has been adapted to reflect the grey-green of Australia’s native gum leaves.

• The House has 150 members representing electorates across Australia.
• Each electorate is based on a population size of approximately 80,000 voters. Electorate boundaries are adjusted from time to time so that they all contain approximately equal numbers of electors.
• Elections for the House of Representatives are held at least every three years.

Senate Chamber

The red of the Senate Chamber is based on the traditional Westminster red, but also reflects the colours found in the Australian landscape.

• There are currently 76 Senators and the Chamber has room to seat 120.
• The Senate is composed of 12 members from each state and two members from each of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.
• State Senators are elected for a six-year term with half the Senators’ terms expiring every three years.
• Senators from the territories are elected for a term of three years.

The Cabinet Room

This room in the Ministerial Wing is where the Cabinet meets on a regular basis.

The Cabinet is a forum for collective decision-making by senior ministers and is the key policy-making agency of the Australian Government. The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister's Office

This is the Prime Minister's office within Parliament House.

The offices of government ministers, backbenchers and members of the Opposition and cross-benches are spread across Parliament House in the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Ministerial wings.