How many people work in Parliament House?

There are 76 senators and 150 members of the House of Representatives, but there are many other people who work in Parliament House! When the Parliament is sitting about 4,000 to 5,000 people work in the building, including:

  • members of parliament and their staff
  • parliamentary officers, such as the Clerks, the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Usher of the Black Rod
  • public servants, such as advisers and researchers
  • the press gallery – media – who report about the Parliament to Australians
  • employees who provide services such as broadcasting, IT, cleaning and catering
  • business employees providing specialist services such as banking staff, post office workers and hairdressers.
Media with cameras and notebooks sit in tiered seating above a carved wooden Commonwealth coat of arms in the Australian Senate.

The Senate press gallery

DPS Auspic

The Senate press gallery

Media with cameras and notebooks sit in tiered seating above a carved wooden Commonwealth coat of arms in the Australian Senate.

DPS Auspic

Description

A group of over 30 journalists sit in the tiered seating above the Australian Senate in the press gallery. The press gallery is a special viewing area behind the President's chair in the Senate. Most of the journalists have notebooks and pens, and some have cameras taking photos of the meeting of the Senate happening below.

Permission should be sought from DPS AUSPIC for third-party or commercial uses of this image. To contact DPS AUSPIC email: auspic@aph.gov.au or phone: 02 6277 3342.