Parliament House

About the Parliament House

Canberra is the capital city of Australia, purpose-built to house the nation's government. Parliament House, opened in 1988, is an architectural masterpiece built into Capital Hill, crowned by its iconic 81-meter flagpole. The building symbolizes Australian democracy and features stunning mosaic forecourt, native gardens, and over 3,000 artworks representing the nation's cultural heritage.

Canberra's status as the seat of federal government is expressed most directly by Australia's Parliament House on Capital Hill, a site Walter Burley Griffin's winning 1912 plan reserved for a major public building. Federal politics moved from Melbourne to the provisional Parliament House, opened by the Duke of York on 9 May 1927, and then to the permanent building, opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 9 May 1988 during the bicentenary year. Designed by Mitchell/Giurgola & Thorp after a 1979–80 competition, it is largely set into the hill, with an 81-metre flagmast visible across the city. Photographs of that flagmast and the building's long axis toward the Australian War Memorial commonly stand for Canberra itself.