Discover how vibrant, innovative and sometimes controversial, our road to democracy has been. Designing Democracy explores the international events, people, ideas and ideals that have shaped Australian democracy and traces the Australian people and inventions that have played a critical role in global democratic history.

Delve into the lives of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. People like Catherine Helen Spence fighting for women’s suffrage, and Eddie Mabo winning legal recognition of his people’s land rights against enormous odds.

View fascinating objects integral to the story of democracy. Objects like George Washington’s writing set, a first edition of Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man published in response to the French Revolution or a piece of the Berlin Wall.

Visit the exhibition to view The Illuminations, a captivating new artwork commissioned by the museum and created by glass artist Wendy Fairclough. This contemporary response to the celebrations of Federation in 1901 is already a treasured and iconic part of the story at the Museum of Australian Democracy.