Community connections
Teach and learn
A guide to member roles and terms
The two houses
Collaboration for better democracy
Breaking barriers for diverse voices
Artists chosen for portraits of groundbreaking women
Search our database of former members, and explore lists of our previous Presidents, Speakers, and Premiers.
Learn about the fight for women's suffrage, and discover the extraordinary Victorian women who have changed our Parliament and our state.
Examine the clues in one of Victoria's most daring thefts. Can you solve the case?
On 1 January 1901 Australia became a nation. With a national capital yet to be established, the new Federal Parliament was housed at Victoria’s Parliament House from 1901 to 1927.
Elections help create a diverse and representative Parliament. Today all Victorians have a say in our democracy, and those with Australian citizenship can vote and stand for election in Parliament. This was not always the case.
The first Victorian political parties were created in the 1890s. The change from factional to party politics significantly changed how the Parliament of Victoria works.
From 1851 to 1856, Victoria had only one legislative body, the Legislative Council, which held its proceedings at St Patrick's Hall in Bourke Street Melbourne.
Did you know that Parliament House was once a family home? For over 130 years, Parliament's housekeepers and their families lived onsite. One lucky resident was Louise Butler, granddaughter of Assembly housekeeper George Pearse.
In early 1888, just as now, much of the front of Parliament House was enclosed in scaffolding.
