Parliament

The Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory covers only 2 358 sq km stretching 88 km north to south and 30 km west to east.  It is surrounded by New South Wales with the capital, Canberra surrounding the man-made Lake Burley Griffin.  Most of the landscape around Canberra is made up of hills, mountains and rugged plains.

The Namadgi N P covers 40% of the ACT and the Kosciusko N P also forms part of the Territory. The Molonglo River flows through Canberra and into Lake Burley Griffin. Following the federation of colonies, a decision was made in 1908 to locate the federal capital approx. half way between Sydney and Melbourne (the two main rivals for federal capital) and the Federal Capital Territory came into existence in 1911. The following year, American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin were chosen as the future city’s designers after winning an international competition.  The capital was formally named from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘meeting place’ in 1913 when construction started. Building progress was slow and it took until 1927 for the federal government to move from Melbourne when the Provisional Parliament House opened. This was followed by the opening of the Australian National University (1946), the completion of Lake Burley Griffin (1963), the National Library (1968), the High Court (1980) and the National Gallery (1982). As part of Australia’s bicentenary celebrations, the new Parliament House was opened on Capital Hill (1988) followed by the ACT being granted full self-government the same year.  Major industries include property and business services, manufacturing, finance and insurance. The Territory’s floral emblem is the Royal bluebell while the faunal emblem is the Gan-gang cockatoo.

Visitor Information Centre: 333 Northbourne Ave, Dickson. Tel (02) 6205 0044 or 1300 554 114.