Fact sheet 60 – Design and development of the National Capital

After Federation in 1901, one of the first questions considered by the new Commonwealth Government, and the most contentious, was the site for the Federal Capital. The announcement of an international design competition for Canberra in 1911 attracted worldwide interest. Entries were received from the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, Italy, France, as well as from South Africa, Rhodesia, Mexico and Paraguay.

The Archives holds many maps, plans, files and reports relating to the design and development of Canberra. They range from the competition plans through the competition plans, the construction of infrastructure, the first Commonwealth buildings, the slow but steady expansion of the capital during the postwar years, and the building of the New Parliament House.

Images of Walter Burley Griffin's design and those of shortlisted competition entrants can be seen on a website called An Ideal City? – The 1912 Competition to Design Canberra.
Maps, plans and drawings
SeriesDrawings submitted in the Federal Capital Design Competition1912A710 
SeriesPhotographic copies of designs submitted in Federal Capital Design Competition1912–13A763 
SeriesLinen tracing of design submitted in Federal Capital Design Competition1912–13A764 
SeriesPhotographic negatives of designs submitted in Federal Capital Design Competition1912A765 
SeriesLithographic copies of designs submitted in Federal Capital Design Competition1912–13A766 
SeriesDesign of the layout of the Federal Capital City of Australia as projected by the Departmental Board1912–13A767 
SeriesLithographic copy of design of the layout of the Federal Capital City of Australia as projected by the Departmental Board1913A768 
SeriesCopies of designs entered in the Federal Capital Design Competition1913CP895/3 
SeriesAperture cards for ACT architectural plans and drawings1921–59A9663 
SeriesCanberra detail plans1935–55A2034 
SeriesCanberra detail plans1940–43A2035 
Accompanying/supporting documentation
SeriesCorrespondence files – Federal Capital series1910–17A110 
SeriesPersonal papers of Mr CS Daley referring to the development of Canberra1910–45CP487/6 
SeriesDocuments relating to design of the Federal Capital1912–13A762 
SeriesPublications, articles and plans relating to the development of Canberra1914–43M1573 
SeriesInstructions received by TGC Weston from Director of Design and Construction (Walter Burley Griffin)1915–20CP209/16 
SeriesCorrespondence files, single number series with 'C' prefix1930–49A292 
SeriesGeneral files of the Senate Select Committee on the Development of Canberra*1954–55A7686 
SeriesPapers of the 'Reference to inquire into and report upon the development of Canberra in relation to the original plan and subsequent modifications, and matters incidental there to'*1955AA1984/414 
SeriesMinutes and agenda papers of meetings of the National Capital Planning Committee1958–83A8839 
SeriesMinutes of National Capital Development Commission meetings1958–88A8840 
SeriesNational Capital Development Commission – Correspondence files1958–89A1340 
* Requests for access to records from A7686 & AA1984/414 are to be referred to the Clerk of the Senate. Please consult a reference officer for more details.
Photographic records
SeriesMildenhall collection of glass plate negatives of early Canberra*1913–35A3560 

* A full set of prints from this series, with index, is available in the Canberra reading room. See also Fact Sheet 222 – Mildenhall photographic collection.

For more information

For details of further records relating to the National Capital see:

For a comprehensive design history of the national capital, see Canberra following Griffin: A Design History of Australia’s National Capital (National Archives, 2002). In this heavily illustrated book, noted Griffin scholar and architect Paul Reid explores in depth the fate of the Griffin design over the 20th century. It contains reproductions of many maps, plans and drawings from the Archives’ collection.

You can obtain more information about the record series listed above (and the items within the series) from RecordSearch, the Archives database. Follow the links in the series lists to go directly to information on that series. You can also use RecordSearch to find out about the agencies that created the records and to locate more records on your subject. You might also explore PhotoSearch to find out if there are photos pertaining to your subject.

RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online or in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff are available in the reading rooms to help you, or email ref@naa.gov.au.

Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au

updated October 2008