Canberra and Parliament House

'Remember that the traditions of this City will be the traditions of Australia. Let us hope… that here a city may arise where those responsible for the government of this country in the future may seek and find inspiration in its noble buildings, its broad avenues, its shaded parks, and sheltered gardens- a city bearing perhaps some resemblance to the city beautiful of our dreams.'

- Lord Denman, Governor-General of Australia

City Map of Canberra - Walter Burley Griffin
The layout of Canberra has an extremely geometric form with Parliament House forming the centre of the city. Acting as central function of the city with 360 views surrounding it.





The iconic flag post centred in Parliament House


Accessed: http://www.peo.gov.au/students/cl/aph.html


Understanding Parliament...
Parliament House is divided into three main departments:


The Department of the Senate


The Department of the House of Representatives


The Departments of Parliamentary Services


What happens in these departments?? How do they function? Are the integrated together in some ways or operate independently from eachother?


The Parliamentary Education Office describes what the The Departments of the House of Representatives and The Department of the Senate do in a basic summary of Parliament House functions as a whole:


'Parliaments are unique. They are not like office blocks or law courts or convention centres. A parliament must do four basic things and the building must be designed to allow these four things to happen. The members of a parliament must be able to:


1. represent people
2. make laws
3. scrutinise the government
4. form a government from elected parliamentarians.


Australia’s modern Parliament House was planned to facilitate these functions. All four functions of parliament take place in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers as well as other rooms. There are many other activities that take place in the federal Parliament such as radio and television broadcasting and printing reports and other documents.'


So what role does The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) play?


The DPS provides wide ranging services such as:


management
maintenance and provision of information
security
facilities
visitr
building
maintenance
landscaping
IT network
telecommunications
broadcasting and Hansard services


Essentially the DPS forms the backbone to all Parliamentary function!

A diagrammatic representation:

THE IDEA OF INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE DISEMMINATION THROUGHOUT PARLIAMENT HOUSE IS AN INTERESTING CONCEPT THAT COULD BE EXPLORED FURTHER....