Visiting Parliament House

Public Galleries

Members of the public are encouraged to visit the public galleries whenever the House of Assembly or the Legislative Council are sitting. Bookings are not taken for the Public Galleries. Visitors are required to go through security screening and sign in prior to attending the galleries. During busy periods, such as immediately prior to the House sitting, there can be delays, so please allow time for these processes.

House of Assembly

The House of Assembly generally sits Tuesday-Thursday in specified sitting weeks as listed in the Sitting Calendar. Typically the House begins sitting at 10am, with Question Time running between 10am and approximately 11.15am. The House suspends at 1pm, and resumes at 2.30pm.

Finishing times may vary, however the final business of the day is the adjournment debate. Under the current sessional orders, this will normally begin at 7.30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and at 5.00pm on Thursdays, but may be called at an earlier or later point. This debate can go for a maximum of an hour, so will generally conclude prior to 8.30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and 6.00pm on Thursdays, bringing the day's sitting to a close. More information about the order of business within the House can be found in the Standing Orders.

An indicative look at the planned business for the day is published at approximately 9.45am, and can be found under "Order of Business" on the relevant date in the House calendar.

Legislative Council

The Legislative Council also sits Tuesday-Thursday in line with the Legislative Council Sitting Calendar for the year.

The Legislative Council typically begins sitting at 11am, and breaks between 1pm and 2.30pm. At other times proceedings may pause to enable members to attend briefings. More information about the sitting arrangements of the Legislative Council may be found in the Standing Orders and Sessional Orders.

As seen on the schedule above, for procedural reasons, the Council also very briefly meets on selected Fridays, generally for the period between 9.30 and 9.40am.

Public Tours

Tours focus on the history of Parliament House and the role of the Parliament. The tour includes the Parliamentary Museum and both chambers of Parliament. All tours are free of charge, and run for approximately one hour.

Tours are conducted at 9.30am and 2.00pm on non-sitting weekdays only, which can be found using the combined sitting calendar. Bookings are encouraged, please contact the House of Assembly on (03) 6212 2200 or email tours@parliament.tas.gov.au .

For groups of more than 15, bookings are essential and can be made using the details above. The preferred group size is 25 or fewer but it may be possible to arrange for two groups to be scheduled at the same time.

Information for schools and home education groups is available here or by contacting the Education Office on (03) 6212 2275.

Other Visitations

For all appointments and events at Parliament House, access is via the central main doors, facing Parliament Lawns.

Please note that Parliament Square is accessed via Salamanca Place.