The Parliament House Art Collection includes The Official Gifts Collection, a collection of significant gifts presented to the Australian Parliament and the nation. Gifts have been received from the Parliaments and governments of other nations and Australian states and territories, as well as from selected national and international community service organisations. The Official Gifts Collection forms a significant record of Australia’s national and political history.

For centuries nations have enriched their relations between one another by exchanging gifts as symbols of diplomacy. Gifts can signal the beginning of a new relationship or the continuation of a longstanding friendship and can be seen as tokens of acknowledgement, respect, and gratitude.

The Official Gifts Collection dates from 1901 and comprises of gifts crafted from as early as 750BC and in a variety of forms including furniture, tapestries, sculptures, and decorative artworks. Each gift tells a story and has been carefully selected to represent the donor. They are often presented to commemorate a particular event or milestone. Many of the gifts in the Collection were presented in 1988 to acknowledge the opening of Parliament House as well as the Bicentenary of the First Fleet of British convict ships arriving in Australia. A number of significant works, including the Coat of Arms above the Great Verandah of Parliament House, were specially commissioned as part of the Parliament House Art/Craft program and later designated as official gifts.

Many of these Gifts are on public display.

Explore some of the Official Gifts:
John Dowie’s Queen Elizabeth II statue
Dora Meeson’s Women’s Suffrage Banner 
The Freedom of the City of London
Thomas Thomsen’s Dutch long clock
Aqjangajuk Shaa’s Dancing Walrus
Returned Service Leagues' Fountain
Country Women Association’s Sundial
John Wadsworth’s The Queen’s Vase
The Guardian Lions
The Decorative Collar