Customs House, Brisbane

The Customs House is a three-story building featuring a copper dome and Victorian design details positioned along the Brisbane River at Queen Street. Inside, it contains six event spaces, a restaurant with riverside views, and facilities suitable for conferences, weddings, and business functions.

The building opened in 1889 to handle growing maritime trade, replacing an earlier customs facility that had operated since 1850 at Petrie Bight. This expansion reflected Brisbane's development as a major trading port during that era.

The Long Room once served customs officials processing trade documents and now hosts university lectures and formal gatherings. This shift shows how the space has transformed while remaining a meeting point for important Brisbane activities.

The building sits directly on the Brisbane River at Queen Street and is easy to reach and explore on foot. Since the space regularly hosts private events, you may find parts of it restricted to specific functions, so checking ahead is a good idea.

Customs officers once kept detailed records of every ship arriving in Brisbane, logging cargo from European and Asian trade routes. These documents form a fascinating archive of the port's commercial importance during colonial times.