Parliament House of South Australia, Legislative building in Adelaide, Australia

Parliament House of South Australia is a neoclassical legislative building on North Terrace in Adelaide. Its long facade has a row of tall columns with plain capitals rising from a rusticated base to a broad entablature, with tall arched windows behind and a dark central entrance. A low balustraded roofline carries small urn-shaped ornaments and a carved stone band above the pillars. The West Wing was built with Kapunda marble and West Island granite.

A select committee proposed a new Parliament House in 1864, and a commission under Governor Anthony Musgrave accepted Edmund Wright and Lloyd Tayler's competition design in 1874, but cost pressures delayed work. Legislation in 1877 fixed the North Terrace and King William Street site, and in 1881 Parliament resolved to build, with Edmund Woods adapting the design. The West Wing rose from 1885 using Kapunda marble and West Island granite and opened in 1889; the East Wing, funded partly by a donation from John Langdon Bonython, was completed in 1939.

The building's name and role are tied to the Parliament of South Australia, whose House of Assembly has met in the West Wing since 1889 and whose Legislative Council moved into the East Wing in 1939. Formal announcements in South Australia of a monarch's accession are made here. The Australasian Federal Convention debated a draft constitution in the building from March to May 1897.

Free guided tours operate when parliament is not in session, allowing you to explore the legislative chambers and historical rooms at your own pace with expert guidance. Check availability upon arrival to plan your visit and learn about any access areas or restricted spaces during your tour.

The structure took over 60 years to complete, making it one of the longest parliamentary construction projects of that era. This extended timeline meant that multiple generations of workers and architects contributed to different phases of the project.