Nationhood
Provisional Parliament House Opens
09 May 1927
The Australian Parliament meets in Provisional Parliament House in Canberra from 1927 to 1988.
Provisional Parliament House – now known as Old Parliament House – is the building where the Australian Parliament met for most of the twentieth century. Although it was intended to be a temporary building, it was home to the Australian Parliament for 61 years.
When the Duke of York officially opened the building on a crisp Canberra autumn day, there were 36 senators and 75 members of the House of Representatives. 61 years later the Parliament had outgrown the building. By 1988 there were 76 senators and 148 members of the House.
The building was the site of some of the most important events in Australia’s history. Prime Minister John Curtin lay in state in Kings Hall after his death in office in 1945 and the front steps were the setting for the announcement of the dismissal of the government in 1975. Key decisions which influenced the future of Australia were made in the building.