History of the Offices Occupied

Chief Secretary's Building: A History

The location of the Chief Secretary’s Building was selected to reflect the status of its original occupant, the Colonial Secretary, who, after the Governor and Chief Magistrate, held the most senior position in the colony of New South Wales.  Completed in 1879, the architecture, decoration and furnishing of the Chief Secretary’s Building (known as the Colonial Secretary’s Building until 1959) were a collaborative effort between colonial architect James Barnet and Sir Henry Parkes.

The position of the Colonial Secretary was created in 1819 to acknowledge the rapidly expanding administrative responsibilities of the colony.  The appointment carried with it a seat in the Legislative Council of NSW and membership of the Executive Council.  The Office of the Colonial Secretary became the most influential government department with responsibilities for the general welfare of the colony and the administration of legislation which regulated everything from fisheries to charitable foundations.  During the 20th century, the responsibilities were dispersed among a range of new government departments, including health, education, housing, police and justice. In 1959 the titled changed to Chief Secretary and from 1975 the remaining functions of the Chief Secretary’s Department were devolved to other government departments, until the office was abolished in May 1982.   

The Chief Secretary’s Building, after having undergone a major refurbishment, re-opened in 2005.  Its occupants, including the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW and the Office of the Governor, will uphold this fine tradition in public service for the people of New South Wales and add their mark to the building’s evolving history.

Vice Regal Occupants

For over 12 decades, the standard of the Governor of NSW has been raised and lowered from the flagpole high above the dome of the Chief Secretary’s Building. This vice-regal tradition signified the Governor’s arrival and departure for meetings of the Executive Council.  In 1902 the then Governor of NSW, Admiral Sir Henry Rawson, temporarily relocated his office from Government house to the Chief Secretary’s Building, into the office of the Vice President of the Executive Council on Level 2. This arrangement lasted until 1915, while Government House was on loan to the Governor-General during the establishment of Australia’s new federal capital in Canberra. In 1996 the Office of the Governor of NSW, as a result of the decision of the then Premier, The Hon Bob Carr MP, again moved from Government House to the Chief Secretary’s Building, this time into the historic suite of offices originally built, furnished and used by Sir Henry Parkes.

Chief Secretary’s Building
Chief Secretary’s Building following the addition of the dome and mansard roof, 1895-96. Vernon’s dome created a significant landmark on the Sydney skyline at the time and was an architectural innovation. Lightweight and inexpensive, the corrugated aluminium covering, first patented in America and France in 1889, was hailed as the wonder metal of the day.

The Office of the Governor, 2005
In 1996 the Office of the Governor of NSW again moved from Government House to the Chief Secretary’s Building, this time into the historic suite of offices originally built and furnished for the Colonial Secretary

Sir Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes at work in his office in the Chief Secretary’s Building, 1891. Now the office of the Governor of NSW.

Executive Council Chamber, 2005
Made by colonial cabinetmaker Alexander Norton about 1880, the furniture was temporarily relocated to Government House in 1954 for a Special Executive Council Meeting on the occasion of the first visit to Australia by Queen Elizabeth II. A piece of the carpet used on the landing pontoon at Farm Cove, where she stepped ashore on her first visit to Sydney, was subsequently re-laid in this room.