Collection

Our collection captures the ideas, movements, people and events of Australian democracy.

Learn more about our collection

A black vinyl record with a yellow label. Text on the label reads 'WEL: labels for ladies'.

Women's Electoral Lobby vinyl record

Music with a message.

The front page of The Empire newspaper dated Thursday September 24, 1857.

Henry Parkes' The Empire newspaper, 1857

Father of Federation and newspaper man.

An enamel possum brooch. The possum is white with pink ears, nose and feet sits on a black, green and gold branch.

White lemuroid possum brooch

Advocating for endangered species in style.

One side of a gold pocket-sized medallion with a crown at the top and the text 'Dame Dorothy Tangney D.B.E.' and 'Life Pass' around the Commonwealth Coat of Arms.

Dorothy Tangney's Life Gold Pass

These Life Gold Passes allowed retired parliamentarians to travel for free.

An old typewritten letter on aged paper from Earle Page to his son dated 26 December 1931. A blue House of Representatives crest is at the top.

Letter from Earle Page to his son on his 21st birthday

Fatherly advice from a future prime minister.

An illustrated travel poster showing an aerial view of Old Parliament House, a large white building, surrounded by green land. The Australian coat of arms is on the bottom with the word Australia over the top. There are also the words Canberra, Australian Capital Territory along the bottom.

Canberra travel posters

Beautifully illustrated travel posters were a popular way of attracting potential tourists.

A yellow board game board is open with a map of Australia in the middle and the words The Party Games with red, yellow and blue lettering. Caricatures of politicians feature n the board. Squares along the border have words like Question, Ladder of success, Greasy pole and speech on them.

Paul Eddington’s Party Game

A board game featuring a popular actor.

A board game with a dark red board opened up with a row squares around the outside of the board with the names of different companies such as Kodak, Hoyts and Newsweek. In the centre are some game pieces including 3 pieces of paper representing money and some cards with businesses on them including IBM and Telecom.

Poleconomy board game

A game of politics and economics.

A green board game board opened up showing seats in a horseshoe shape representing the House of Representatives. There are images of politicians on the seats and some game pieces are on top of the board including a blue card with the words Foreign Affairs and Defence and an orange card with the words Stuff ups and scandals.

Question Time! board game

A complex game about the intricacies of politics.

A close up of six chess pieces standing in a row on a black and white checkered chess board. Each chess piece is carved from white stone with sombre faces in the likeness of politicians.

Political chess set by Douglas Pearce

A chess set with pieces made to look like federal politicians.

A deck of cards fanned out in a pile. Some cards are red with a blue border and the word Election! written at the top. There is a cartoon caricature of politicians in the centre of each cartoon. There is one card with a green border with the words 'Play this card when a social media event in your favour is drawn. Margin points plus 4'.

Election! card game

A card game for political tragics.

An open board game with the words Ngandhi Bala-Dhu? along one side. A circle in the centre includes a row of smaller circles with images of trees, arrows, shells and red, yellow and black circles. There are 4 stacks of cards, one in each corner of the board. One says Decision, one says Reflections, one says Oppression, one says Empowerment.

First Nations cultural awareness board game: Ngundi Bala-Dhu?

A board game about First Nations history and culture.

‘Cathy’s Bling’ earrings

These small but mighty earrings were created for Cathy McGowan's campaign for the Indi electorate.

Neville Bonner's stamp

Neville Bonner used this to give his stamp of approval during his time in parliament.

Plaque presented to Dorothy Tangney

This plaque signifies Dorothy Margaret Tangney becoming Australia's first woman senator.

Souvenir spoon with commemorative florin

The first Australian commemorative coin marked the 1927 opening of Australia's provisional Parliament House.

Photograph of a medallion labled "Charlotte Blacklock"

Women's Social and Political Union hunger strike medal

The Women's Social and Political Union took extreme actions to advance the cause of women's suffrage.

Photograph of a small badge labled "Free Julian"

Julian Assange supporters' badge

Wikileaks' Julian Assange is convicted under the US Espionage Act, his supporters see him as a whistleblower.

Photograph of a metal tag labled "Non members bar"

Non-Members’ Bar life membership tags

From 1946, a lively bar was provided for ‘non-members’ of parliament at the provisional Parliament House.

Photograph of a small matchbook reading "Vote liberal 1 Darby in Werriwa"

Michael Darby’s campaign matchbook

More than an unassuming piece of campaign material, this matchbook has a story to tell.

Photograph of a small, white ceramic elephant

Souvenir elephant

This miniature elephant is a tongue-in-cheek souvenir depicting Provisional Parliament House.

Photograph of a small circular box filled with blye tipped matches

Commonwealth Match Works vesta case

Pocket-sized cylindrical boxes for matches, were popular in Australia and New Zealand in the early 1900s.

Photograph of two brass coloured cufflinks

Court dress cufflinks and vesta case

These decorated cufflinks were part of a court dress uniform for the Minister for External Affairs.

President of the Senate’s signet ring

Australia’s first ever President of the Senate likely commissioned this gold and bloodstone signet ring.

Photograph of a worn commonwealth sixpence

Commonwealth of England sixpence

This rare hammered silver coin represents a foundational idea for the history of parliamentary democracy.

Toy koala

A beloved toy koala gifted to Australia's 100,000th British post-war migrant.

A brown old coin with the words three pence on the front. There is a hole in the middle of the coin with a wreath that goes around the hole.

Threepenny internment camp tokens

A different kind of currency.

A light brown plastic phone with rows of red buttons and a manual hand dial. The receiver sits on the side.

Multifone telephone used by William McMahon

Lift the handle and listen for the dial tone.

Speaker's Chair

Speaks to Australian democracy's deep ties to the United Kingdom.

A photograph of the Prime Ministers office

Prime minister's desk

An expanse of desktop.

A selection of rail tickets with hand written cursive text and a blue leather wallet.

Ethel Bruce's rail pass and tickets to the opening of Parliament House

First class travel for the wife of the prime minister.

An orange skivvy with the words 'It's time' in big black font on the front.

It's time skivvy

A rallying cry: 'It's time'.

Photograph of a wooden chair with red leather seat cushion and back.

Dining room chair

A workhorse chair you can still sit on today.

Embroidered cushion gifted to Arthur Calwell

A symbol of a substantial change in government policy.

A dark room with heavy curtins and a large, heavy oval shaped table with a hole in the middle surrounded by large grey chairs.

Cabinet Room table

A table fit for a Cabinet.

Barber's chair

Not a hair out of place.