Clerk Of The Senate's Office, Old Parliament House

Reopening in November 2024, this office was home to the Clerk of the Senate, a top bureaucrat who helped keep the Senate running smoothly. The office will evoke Tuesday 11 November 1975, the day the Whitlam government was dismissed. The Clerk of the Senate and occupant of the office on that date was James Odgers.

The re-creation of the Clerk of the Senate's Office is made possible by the generous support of the donors to MoAD's 2024 Annual Appeal.

This black and white photograph shows the layout of the Clerk of the Senate’s office in 1985 when it was occupied by Alan Cumming Thom. The timber-panelled room contains a large desk (originally designed by the building’s architect, John Smith Murdoch), glass-fronted built-in bookshelves and a sideboard with an indoor plant. There are a range of visitor chairs and an easy chair in the foreground.

The Clerk of the Senate's office in 1985. It featured a substantial desk, built-in bookshelves and numerous mismatched chairs. Photograph by Lori Anglin, Tanner and Associates, MoAD Collection