Melbourne Parliament House

Spring Street, East Melbourne, Victoria 3000
P: 03 9651 8911


Towards the end of last year, several of us ladies in the office decided to go for High Tea at Parliament House, which is an easy walk from the office. I fully recommend it, it was lovely.


While we were there, a couple of us then decided to hitch a lift on a guided tour of the building. There was much it didn’t take in, and we couldn’t go into the senate at all, however the guide told us an awful lot of information on the history of the building and the people who’d spent their working lives in it. Below are a sample of some of my favourite pictures from the tour.

Entry hall. Pictures of past big-wigs in Victorian politics surround the walls. I love the soaring spaces and high ceilings in this building.

So hard to believe how many volumes there are in this room. They have everything in them.

I got into trouble trying to take this picture! I just wanted this shot, with no-one in it, but the guide wouldn’t leave me alone for the 3 seconds it would take to do it (because she couldn’t leave people unsupervised or somesuch). I did eventually manage it, however she gave me the frowning of my life. The irony is that, once the tour was over, I went to the toilet... and could have wandered right into this room unsupervised. Go figure. I just wanted the picture.

Just one of these chandeliers would go a nice way to paying off a good chunk of my mortgage. I can’t remember all the details around them, but I think all up they cost, or are worth, nearly $300k.

The library. It’s not open to the public. I love the old vs. new feel of it. See the old staircase and the bookshelves? See the mouse in the bottom right corner? We weren’t allowed to move from a tiny area in the middle of the room, which is a shame as I’d love to explore it more fully. Sadly, I think the only way I could do that is to join Victorian politics, and frankly I’m too honest and nice for that!

According to the website, public tours are conducted on weekdays when Parliament isn’t sitting, and leave more or less hourly from 9.30am. See the calendar on their website for more information.