It is part of Muwinina (Mouheneenner) Country, extending along the south-east coast to north of Hobart along timtumili minanya (the Derwent River).

The Muwinina were one of several clans living in the south-east when Europeans first arrived.

This means that the colony can have its own government for the first time, including a Legislative Council and an Executive Council.

The Lieutenant-Governor represents the Monarch in the colony.

The Council is made up of the Lieutenant-Governor plus five others.

The law allows for between five and seven Members in total.

Members are also known as 'MLCs' (short for 'Members of the Legislative Council').

The first six MLCs were:

Sir George Arthur

Sir John Lewes Pedder

William Henry Hamilton

Adolarius William Henry Humphrey

Edward Curr

Edward Abbott

This makes a total of 15 Members including the Lieutenant-Governor.

At first, Government officials and the Chief Justice make up the majority of the Council.

Soon, wealthy free settlers are also appointed.

For the first time, the press and the public are allowed to watch. This is an innovation for the Australian colonies.

They become local heroes, known as the 'Patriotic Six'.

The Lieutenant-Governor dismisses the six, but in 1947 the British Government orders that they be reinstated to the Council.

The Council grows to 24 Members, and 16 of them are elected for the first time by a restricted franchise. The other eight are nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor.

Electoral boundaries (also known as divisions) are drawn up during 1851 and elections are held for the 16 seats.

The new 'blended' Council meets for the first time on 1 January 1852.

Sir Dry later becomes the first Tasmanian-born Premier on 24 November 1866.

It was a Member of the Legislative Council, William Sharland, who successfully moved in 1854 for the Council to petition Queen Victoria for the name change.

The same chamber is still used today.

The Legislative Council meets in its new Chamber.

Thomas Horne becomes the first President of the Legislative Council (replacing the title of Speaker), and the first staff members are appointed:

Chester Eardley-Wilmot as the first Clerk and Major James Fraser as the first Usher of the Black Rod.

'Parliamentary privilege' is the name given to the special rights and legal protections granted to the Parliament and its Members.

This ensures that Members can carry out their work without being sued.

It also grants powers for each House, and its Committees, to summon people and request evidence.

Previously (from 1856 to 1859), MLCs were given nine year terms with one third of Members facing election every three years.

Fixed terms mean that unlike the House of Assembly (lower House), the Legislative Council cannot be dissolved. Instead, periodic elections are held each year.

It was in Tasmania that Abbott developed his enthusiasm for local ingredients.

Recipes included 'Roast Beef of Old England', 'kangaroo steamer' and 'slippery bob'- a dish of battered kangaroo brains fried in emu fat.

It is carried by the Usher of the Black Rod at the opening of Parliament.

The Tasmanian rod is the second oldest still in use anywhere in the British Commonwealth.

It is made of polished ebony with Royal Arms in gold. The Tasmanian Black Rod alone still carries Queen Victoria’s cypher.

In 1998 Wendy Peddle became the first woman to hold the post of Usher of the Black Rod.

Dodery was 87 years old when he retired on 7 May 1907.

BAKER, Henry Seymour

MLC Queenborough May 1948-July 1968 (Independent)

BLACKLOW, Archibald Clifford

MLC Pembroke Oct 1936-May 1953 (Independent)

CONNOLLY, James Bell

MLC Buckingham Oct 1948-May 1968 (Australian Labor Party)

DUNBABIN, William

MLC Pembroke May 1953-May 1959 (Independent)

EVANS, Alexander Arthur

MLC Launceston May 1936-May 1942 (Independent)

FENTON, Arthur Benjamin

MLC Russell May 1933-May 1957 (Independent)

GROUNDS, Arthur Edwin Ernest

MLC Launceston May 1950-July 1951 (Australian Labor Party)

MURDOCH, John

MLC Pembroke Dec 1935-Aug 1936 (Independent)

SHOOBRIDGE, Rupert Oakley

MLC Derwent May 1937-May 1955 (Independent)

WARDLAW, Alan Lindsay

MLC South Esk May 1920-Dec 1938 (Independent)

Although women had become eligible to vote in House of Assembly (lower House) elections in 1903, the more conservative Legislative Council continued to limit franchise (voting rights) to property owners.

The Administrator, Sir Herbert Nicholls, takes the 'most irregular' action of approving the Budget Bill without the Council passing it.

This leads to a Joint Select Committee being set up to review the Council's powers for money Bills.

New rules become law in 1926.

Gant was a Member of the Legislative Council from 7 May 1901 to 1 August 1927.

However, franchise (voting rights) is still limited in Legislative Council elections.

BLACKLOW, Archibald Clifford

MLC Pembroke Oct 1936-May 1953 (Independent)

BROADBY, Albert James

MLC Gordon June 1968-May 1988 (Independent)

BROWN, Ronald Herbert (Ron)

MLC Huon May 1948-May 1966 (Independent)

CARINS, Lloyd Horton

MLC South Esk May 1962-May 1980 (Independent)

COATES, Jeffrey Allan (Jeff)

MLC Meander May 1971-May 1981 (Independent), Tamar May 1981-May 1989 (Independent)

DAVIS, Walter John Torley (Bill)

MLC West Devon May 1953-Oct 1971 (Independent)

DIXON, Joseph Henry (Joe)

MLC Derwent May 1955-May 1961 (Independent), May 1967-May 1979 (Independent)

DUNBABIN, William

MLC Pembroke May 1953-May 1959 (Independent)

EVANS, Alexander Arthur

MLC Launceston May 1936-May 1942 (Independent)

FOOT, Geoffrey James (Geoff)

MLC Cornwall Dec 1961-May 1972 (Independent)

FRY, William Hector Maxwell (Max)

MLC Launceston May 1958-Dec 1965 (Independent)

GREEN, Geoffrey Hewett

MLC Cambridge Feb 1946-June 1946 (Independent), Monmouth July 1946-April 1959 (Independent)

GREEN, Richard Kenneth

MLC Launceston May 1946-March 1950 (Independent)

HITCHCOCK, Daniel (Dan)

MLC Tamar July 1960-May 1979 (Independent)

HODGMAN, William Clark (Bill)

MLC Queenborough May 1971-May 1983 (Independent)

KING, Frank Bernard

MLC Cornwall May 1972-May 1978 (Independent)

LE FEVRE, Vernon Mackenzie (Mac)

MLC Cornwall May 1978-1984 (Independent)

LOWRIE, Kenneth Francis (Ken)

MLC Buckingham May 1968-May 1986 (Independent)

McFIE, Hector

MLC Mersey Sept 1954-May 1972 (Independent)

McKAY, Eric Charles (Ben)

MLC Pembroke May 1959-July 1976 (Independent)

SHIPP, Raymond William (Ray)

MLC Launceston Dec 1968-May 1982 (Independent)

SHOOBRIDGE, Louis Manton(1920-2005)

MLC Queenborough Sept 1968-May 1971 (Independent)

Women eligible as electors were granted the right to stand for state elections in 1921.

Mrs Waterworth had previously stood unsuccessfully for the lower House.

The Council has the power to ‘block supply’ (refuse to pass budget and money Bills), which would stop the government from getting the funds it needs to operate.

If this happens, it is likely that the Governor would call an election – dissolving the House of Assembly (Lower House) so new members can be chosen.

Ms McIntyre is also the shortest-serving Member, dying in a plane crash in September 1948.

This is the first time a reigning monarch has visited Tasmania.

The Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council is an elected Member who is appointed by the Premier to represent the Government.

The Leader is responsible for the passage of Government legislation through the Upper House.

The voting age is lowered to 18 in 1973.

The Mercury reports that it was a ‘polished television performance by Tasmania's MLCs — some of them making their TV debut' (The Mercury, 10 July 1970).

The telecast is believed to be the first ever of workings inside a parliament in the British Commonwealth.

Previously, from 1920 to 1978, Tasmanian parliamentary debates were summarised in the The World and The Mercury newspapers.

A Redistribution Tribunal is established to redraw 19 divisions (also known as electoral boundaries or 'seats') using a 'one vote, one value' rule.

Before this time, the Parliament set the divisions for the Council.

The Bill passes unchanged with full support from both Houses of the Tasmanian Parliament.

The Bill is ‘one of the most historical and culturally significant pieces of legislation to be introduced into the Tasmanian Parliament’ (Fact sheet: Aboriginal Lands Bill 1995).

The titles to 12 parcels of land are handed back to Aboriginal elders by the Premier in December 1995.

Because the Council has one Member per electoral division, this also means a decrease in divisions.

1825: 5-7 Members - Governor and up to six nominee Members

1829: 15 Members - Governor, six 'official' Members (Government officials) and eight 'unofficial' Members (MLCs who are not Government officials)

1851: 24 Members - including two-thirds elected for the first time

1856: 15 Members - all elected

1871: 16 elected Members

1886: 18 elected Members

1898: 19 elected Members

1900: 18 elected Members

1940s: 19 elected Members

1998: 15 elected Members.

Today's Legislative Council has single-Member seats.

Paul Harriss' son Dean later sits in the Legislative Council from 2022-2026.

Over the Parliament of Tasmania's history, there have been a number of unsuccessful calls for reserved Aboriginal seats in Parliament to address the lack of representation for Tasmania's First People.

This novel arrangement is put in place as a way of making the Legislative Council Ministers more accountable for their actions.

They can ask experts, interested groups, and government officials to speak at hearings and answer questions.

These hearings also give members of the public and community groups a chance to share their views on how proposed laws or policies might affect them.

In the early colonial years, committees of the Council mainly examined and reported on draft Bills (proposed laws).

In later years, the Council appointed Members to form committees to investigate specific matters and report their findings.

In 2011, the Legislative Council expanded the range of committees with the establishment of two sessional committees known as Government Administration Committees A and B.

Over its history, the upper House has largely been made up of independent Members.

The Clerk is the Permanent Head and Chief Executive of the staff of the Legislative Council.

The first woman to serve as Deputy Clerk was Sue McLeod from 2014-2017.

The initial limit is $19,500. This will increase by $500 each year.

On 18 May 2026, the Governor hosts a reception to mark the Bicentenary and delivers a speech.