Australian Parliament Review

You can see the inside of the National Assembly. You can learn more about Australian history through a guide, and you can go directly to where the lawmakers work.

Wonderful experience, very friendly and helpful staff. The one way system because of Covid works really well just make sure you don't miss anything on your way. Would recommend to anyone and be sure to check out the Lego version of the building. Lots of fun details there

This was a wonderful experience. The Parliament building is quite interesting and I especially enjoyed the exhibit of the PM portraits. The gift shop is quite nice. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful.

Really new looking building with tons of marble. Good for a nice quick stroll, great place to take photos.

My experience was a bit different due to circumstances I will detail below, but it didn't really change what was already a great experience in Parliament House.

Parliament House is a must-go if you're in Canberra. You get to see where the laws of the country are made, the tour is literally free (that in and of itself should erase any doubt in your mind of whether to go or not), and the staff all throughout the entire building were nothing short of extremely friendly and knowledgeable. I quizzed them on a range of different topics and they were all able to provide me with extremely detailed and precise information. Even the shopkeeper at the gift shop was cracking jokes and having a good time, the staff working here really seem to love their jobs and will try to make you like the place as much as they can.

I had an unfortunate incident where my car broke down at the visitor's car park located at the basement of Parliament House. While I waited for NRMA to arrive, I went and had a chat with the guards so they knew why we were there and they were all very friendly and helpful. Later on, a guard even came down to tell us he'd help with the boom gate when we were leaving (we had paid for our parking already when we realized the bloody car had dumped us). He even followed up on us through the intercom and asked if everything had been fixed as we left the car park! Aussie hospitality on display right there, the staff on this place deserve a million stars.

I was very impressed with my visit to the Parliament House. After going through a quick security check, we were greeted and given a map right away. The information desk is easy accessible, and there was someone there to help us set up a spot on a 40 minute free tour as well as securing spots in the question time in the house of representatives at 2:00 (Question time is 90 mins). Question time was a great way to see the PM in action dealing with the most pressing issues to Australia at the moment. Highly recommend.

Beautiful house of the people, if not the only one it is one of the few Parliaments where the public can get to visit the seat of government. We'll worth the visit.

Crazy place and very well maintained house of Australia power of Australia

It was impressive..if your are in the act then do your self a favour and spend as hour or two their..it's very modern..liked the history of old parliament a lot more..spend the time and GO

Definitely a highlight of a visit to Canberra. You get quite amazing access to the public areas, considering this is a national parliament. While you can walk around and into the chambers on your own, it's worth taking one of the 40 minute tours that happen about 5 times a day.
There is free parking for two hours in the underground car park at the front.

wonderful architect... the place is full of history displayed all around...

Much like Westminster Palace. The abstract sculptures in the yard are very interesting.

Great hour stop off. Wasn't a day they were sitting so not a lot of pollies about. V interesting.

Nice modern building to showcase Australian democracy. They have showcased nice portraits big former prime minister's but it's ironic to see that most of the prime minister's didn't completer the term(many of them were prime minister for about an year and there was one just for a week).

Awesome place and very informative about Australian politics and different houses.

Look for tour guides as you go through the building, they also have group tours throughout the day, a great visit each time.

will change the rating when labor is elected in the federal election

Canberra landmarks.
If you come to Canberra quite worth going.
There is no cost.

Besides loving politics quite a lot, I got to Canberra usually once a month for business (running my Meetups). As part of that, I just can't help myself and have to go for a visit (I grab an uber there).

It has a top serene feeling about it and I really like the spot. Even the AFP Officers while armed to the teeth, are really friendly and if you're nice to them, they will even pose in the photo with you.

Great spot, worth a visit!

Australian Parliament House at Canberra, ACT
Visited on 16/3/2021

My travelling buddies came on the day when the Women's March 4 Justice and other protests were across the lawn of the Parluament House. There was a big problem trying to find a carpark, and the people who had attended or participated at the demonstration were not allowed in to the building for the day for the obvious reason - the ouses of the parliament were n session.

The building and landscape were completed in 1988, and it is an awesome architecture, from the outside to the inside. We went on a self-guided tour of the public area where the galleries are. Due to time constraints, we were not able to watch the MPs in action from the chamber gallery.

From the forecourt to the iexterior and nterior of the building, it is a very well thought out, meaningful masterpiece.

I was awed by this high ceiling foyer, supported by 48 marble columns of muted green and pink colours which represent the colours of the two houses.

The floor has a series of circles, semi-circles and triangles of marbles and granite limestone from Belgium.

There are three storeys, excluding basement carparks. The first floor can be reached by staircase, one on each side of the foyer.

As I reached the first floor, I notice the parquetry flooring was from trees of different species and countries of origin.

Although I am not a Lego hobbyist or enthusiast, I was still fascinated and captivated by the Lego model of the Parliament House.

Portraits of former prime ministers, photographs of the speakers, members of lower house, senators, decorated many if the walls.

Have I missed the portraits or photographs of Governor Generals?

I do feel that the emphasis of female ministers, and works of female members of parluament is unnecessary, if gender equality is exercised. This in fact promotes gender bias, and discriminatory.

Although this is not art gallery, I do like to see some busts of some of the more recognised Prime Ministers or Government Generals on display.

The placement of some of the exhibits should be repositioned. Strong sunlight shines on them not only damages the quality of artwork, but also not ideal for taking photographs with so much reflected sun ray.

I looked down to the Great Hall. It has one of the largest tapestries in the world measuring 20 metres by 9 metres. On the floor, the chairs are arranged in such a way conforming to social distancing requirement. The dim lighting gave me a rather cold and uncomfortable feeling.

It is a must visit place of interest.

Went on the weekend. Free parking. Was not that busy. Easy to move around. To learn more about the place - go on a tour.

What a great view. Just go up to the roof and enjoy the stunning view! Free WiFi and chilly inside.

Book in advance for free guided tour of the Parliament.

We visited the Australian Parliament as a group of 5 on a Saturday afternoon.

We are glad we called in ahead to book. The guided tour was fully booked.

Our guide Kevin was experienced and informative.
The Parliament was not is session which meant we could get a detailed insight.

The 40 minute guided tour is a wonderful experience to see the Australian Parliament.

Highly recommended.

Beautiful parliament house like our Parliament house.

I wasn t too sure if I would like to visit this place. When I got there I was surprised by the tours they operate. It was free and our guide was so nice. He told us so much about Australian history and show everything to us. I enjoyed a lot.

Must visit attractions while visiting Canberra. This is bit far from city centre. Bus 58 from city centre goes there. Parliament house was an amazing experience. It's maintained very tidy. Everything is superb. On site big cafe is located.

The Australian Parliament is the head of the Australian government's legislative system, located in a large building in the capital, Canberra. The National Assembly consists of two main chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and is the meeting place for federal government senators and senators. In addition to this building also has reception rooms, exhibitions and is a place for tourists to visit - Wikipedia

Very epic place. Once I saw the prime minister there. :o

with her finger and her thumb In the shape of an "L" on her forehead
Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running Didn't make sense not to live for fun Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do, so much to see So what's wrong with taking the back streets? You'll never know if you don't go You'll never shine if you don't glow
[Chorus:]
Hey, now, you're an All Star, get your game on, go play Hey, now, you're a Rock Star, get the show on, get paid And all that glitters is gold Only shooting stars break the mold
It's a cool place and they say it gets colder You're bundled up now wait 'til you get older But the meteor men beg to differ Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
The ice we skate is getting pretty thin The water's getting warm so you might as well swim My world's on fire. How about yours? That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored.
[Chorus 2x]
Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas I need to get myself away from this place I said yep, what a concept I could use a little fuel myself And we could all use a little change
Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running Didn't make sense not to live for fun Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do so much to see So what's wrong with taking the back streets You'll never know if you don't go You'll never shine if you don't glow.
[Chorus]
And all that glitters is gold Only shooting stars break the mold

An amazing building, worth a visit for anyone who visits Canberra.

Iconic place of Australia and Canberra, a must visit if you are in Canberra.

It's a big building where the Australian government is located, I thought it was kinda boring but it was cool

Great to look in the two houses (schools only tour) it was fun (11 years old)

The building was nicely done, my only problem was the tour started by thanking our aboriginal landlords, the artwork was mostly aboriginal, a doccumentry was showing of aboriginal members giving their maiden speeches.
I had believed this parliament was for all Australians not for just one race.

This is the only place where you can get a DVD copy of The House With Annabel Crabb...

Tour guide (Kylie) was good, provided interesting information, laughed at her own jokes, so overall good. What is fundamentally wrong is the shortness of the tour, 30m, really 25m (security scan) I was only able to read 25% of the available content. Way to fast! Also getting chastised by a security guard for being too far behind (2 meters) was just awesome.

Excellent, brilliant, fantastic! Wasn t expecting Parliament House to be so interesting but it was highlight of our Canberra visit. Book onto one of the free tours, the volunteers are fantastic.

You can take time to visit here for at least an hour. The building is simple and neat. The upper and lower parliament halls have two different atmospheres, interspersed with geometric graphic design, walking in the parliament building and experiencing Australian culture.

Went on a one of the free guided tours (there are also some paid tours for a nominal fee). You won't learn a ton about how government works in the tour, but it's a nice, short tour with a few fun stories and the building and grounds are very nice. Plus the 2 hour free parking is great (and even staying a couple of hours after the first two is very reasonable cost). Only bummer was that the roof top was closed when we visited.

Educational and quite interesting to watch Australia's politicians argue about issues. Good place for a school to visit.

Nice views from the roof, nice modern interior, free admission. Not that much to see inside though. Some empty rooms where the Parliament sits, some paintings of old politicians. And the line to get through security can be long on weekends and other touristy times. Don't take large bags, etc, because that creates problems at security.

Impressive building with some great attractions. The portraits of past prime ministers were wonderful, and the Great Hall was a sight to behold. The only issue is how locked away the actual parliamentary process is, unlike the previous Parliament House. For security reasons I assume, but it does take away from the experience.

Australia's national Parliament House in Canberra is a magnificent and bold architectural statement built into a hill overlooking the city. Interesting displays, artworks, the amazing architecture and the ability to observe parliamentary debates in action are all draw cards. Tight security similar to airports is undertaken on entry.

Very worth a visit, educational. Enjoyed question time and tour. Fabulous gin on offer too.

Another great place to spend an hour.

Guided tour is a must here

Staff are very friendly, lots of information available to visitor.
You can also go up the lift near the flag, which is huge.
You can see some great views of Canberra from the roof.

2 Hour free parking is also available.

Parliament house is always great to visit. Lots of things on show, like the lego display of Parly House, beautiful artwork and all the marble you can poke a stick at (but please don't bring in any sticks nor poke anything or anyone with them)

Lots of great things in the gift shop as well. They how have a bee hive on site so the addition of honey, Honey mead, Honey Gin and other treats gives me many things to purchase and gift or try out.

Awesome place to visit, but gift store was too overpriced.

The free tour of the parliament is undoubtedly very interesting, especially if you are not Australian and you don't really know how things work here. I liked also the building itself.

Very good place to visit, here in Canberra. The tour was excellent, and shows you the Senate, House of Representatives, and most of the Parliament House. There is good parking, also, and it is modern and beautifully designed. I highly recommend.

Very nice and modern building. Admission is free, only the parking spaces are subject to charges. The staff is friendly and answers all questions competently.

Very modern building. Admission free. Staff super friendly and helpful.

Australia's "parliament house " is an icon of the capital city Canberra."Boomerang " is a weapon used by aboriginal of Australia and "Boomerang" is thought of as an Australian icon ,. ".Boomerang" is a symbol of their indigenous heritage while " Parliament house is the symbol of modern democracy .The most magnificent and glorious thing is that, the principal design of this parliament house is based on the shape of two boomerangs ..Its a tremendous instanse of keeping nations heritage in modern architecture like " natioal parliament house" .
This Parliament house is a huge building,
contains 4,700 rooms and topped by 266ft high pyramidal flagpole .

I think many people believe Melbourne is Australia's Capital City. The fact is that it is indeed Canberra. Who would have known especially if you are from Perth? You know that in Western Australia we are not even sure if we are related in any way to Central or Eastern Australia. Go figure! In Perth we figure that Perth is the Capital of Australia. I mean all the gold for the mint comes from Western Australia and we do have the happiest mates and lassies.

Parliament House if quite magnificent - but it is a pity about the politicians display at question time. My partner and I happened to be in Canberra for the last Question Time 2014 and decided that it would wonderful to see our politicians, the people we elect to govern, in action.

Well what an horrendous disappointment. I have never been so disgusted with such bad behaviour. It was so bad that I actually had to walk out because I would have ended up saying something to both sides and also to the Speaker. When I went outside, some young school children also came out so I asked them what they thought. Their unanimous agreement was that "If they acted like that in school they would be suspended."

The whole session was a debacle. There was no intelligent debate or conversation from either side; members walked around with no apparent interest in what was being said; the speaker had no control and was completely inconsistent in her orders; there were constant and continuous interjections and then after questions were finished and the Labor politicians got up to speak, the entire LNP simply walked out.

Do new members of parliament have training in how to be rude, inconsiderate and bad mannered once elected?

How these politicians can be proud of themselves is beyond me. If they govern our country the way they participate in Question Time then heaven help Australia.

A must go place to visit, the architecture is iconic.

Architecture on a grand scale with a well laid out plan, portraits of the past prime ministers, governor generals and the Australian flag majestically flapping in the wind made my visit to the Australian parliament well worth it.

You can walk on top of the politicians, and also listen to them debate on seating days. Really worth a visit.

Most of the area of the parliament house is open for public and you will be able to know the political history of Australia.