Canberra History and Heritage Guide: The National Capital, Federation and the Story of Australia's Planned City

Canberra's history is unique: it is the only Australian capital city that was designed, built, and populated as a deliberate act of federal policy rather than developing organically from a colonial settlement. The 1908 decision to build the national capital in the Canberra region (a compromise between Sydney and Melbourne), the 1911 international design competition won by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, the 1913 foundation stone ceremony, the 1927 formal opening of Parliament House (the Old Parliament House), and the 1988 opening of the New Parliament House on Capital Hill trace the city's planned development over 80 years. The result is a city whose heritage is inseparable from the story of Australian national identity.

Old Parliament House (Museum of Australian Democracy) — the 1927 white neoclassical building that served as Australia's seat of parliament until 1988 now houses the Museum of Australian Democracy (MOAD, King George Terrace, Barton), which provides the finest interpretation of Australian political history of any institution in the country. The Senate and House of Representatives chambers are preserved as they were during the building's operational years, and the scale of the building relative to the national politics conducted within it is remarkable. Entry is free.

Australian War Memorial — the War Memorial (Treloar Crescent, Campbell) is the most visited cultural institution in Australia and one of the world's finest war memorials. The building's position on the Anzac Parade axis (directly opposite the New Parliament House on Capital Hill, connected by the dead-straight Anzac Parade memorial boulevard) is a masterpiece of memorial urban design. The First World War galleries (including the extraordinary ANZAC Hall reconstructions of the Western Front, the Sinai campaign, and the Battle of Polygon Wood diorama) are outstanding. Entry is free.

The Griffin Legacy and Canberra's urban design — the Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin design for Canberra is one of the great achievements of 20th century urban planning, and the Canberra environment provides extraordinary opportunities to experience the design as the Griffins intended it. The Capitol Hill axis, the Land Axis, the Water Axis (Lake Burley Griffin), and the Parliamentary Triangle are best understood from the Mount Ainslie summit, which provides the definitive overview of the city's planned geometry.

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