The Assembly chamber

The Legislative Assembly chamber is the room where members meet to make decisions that affect the lives of people who live and work in the ACT.

History of the chamber

At self-government in 1989, there was no building suitable for the Assembly to use as a parliament. It met instead in a boardroom in what is now Nara House on Constitution Avenue.

In April 1994, the Assembly met for the first time in its current location on London Circuit. The chamber was designed by the architects Mitchell, Giurgola and Thorp – the same firm that designed Australian Parliament House.

Assembly chamber layout
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Layout

The chamber is arranged in a ‘horseshoe’ shape with the government and opposition sitting directly across from one another, a layout we inherited from the British Parliament.

The Speaker sits on a raised platform at the front of the room, with the Clerk and Deputy Clerk and Serjeant-at-Arms sitting in front of them. The members fill out the rest of the seats on the floor with where they sit determined by their role. As a general rule, the closer to the Speaker someone sits, the more important they are.

Parliamentary officers

When the Assembly is sitting, there are more people on the floor than the 25 members. These are parliamentary officers, who help support the Assembly and make sure it runs smoothly. The main officers you would see are:

• The Clerk, the Assembly’s chief secretary and most senior officer. They sit in the left seat in front of the Speaker. Their responsibilities include maintaining the Assembly’s records, providing procedural advice to members, and announcing business during sittings.
• The Deputy Clerk and Serjeant-at-Arms has a similar job to the Clerk. They sit in the right seat in front of the Speaker. Their responsibilities include carrying the mace and leading the Speaker in and out of the chamber.
• The attendants prepare the chamber for use each sitting day. They keep order in the public gallery and bring items to and from members, the Speaker, and the clerks during a sitting.

Spaces around the chamber

The galleries

The seats at the back of the Assembly are divided into three parts: one for invited guests and members’ advisors, one for the general public, and a special room for reporters from the media.

Broadcasting suite

Behind the high glass window to the left of the Speaker’s chair is the office where the team who film, record, and broadcast meetings of the Assembly work from.

Subtable office

Behind the low glass window to the right of the Speaker’s chair is the subtable office. It houses copies of all documents due to be presented or that the Assembly is in the processes of debating. Parliamentary officers prepare documents for sitting days here.

Lobbies

There are lobbies – small side rooms – through the doors on either side of the chamber. Members can use the lobbies to take a break from the chamber or to meet with each other, staff, or government officials.

Special objects

The shower screen

The frosted glass partition behind the Speaker’s chair is informally called the ‘shower screen’ due how similar it looks to the common bathroom feature. It allows attendants to walk behind the Speaker discretely while they are in the chair.

The sand timer

A four-minute sand time sits on the clerks’ desk. It is used during divisions (formal votes) to count down the time members have to get to the chamber before the doors are locked so the vote may begin.

The Bar of the House

The Bar of the House is a barrier between the public and chamber when it’s at work. It is also the only place where a member of the public can speak directly to the Assembly while it is sitting. It is kept on the right-side wall when not in use

Our bar has only ever been used once, when Aboriginal Canberrans spoke to the Assembly about their experiences of the Stolen Generation in August 1997.

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