The Australian Parliament first met in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1901 . The Commonwealth Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne by The Prince George , Duke of Cornwall and York , later King George V. The only building in Melbourne large enough to house the 14,000 guests was the Royal Exhibition Building . Thereafter , from 1901 to 1927 , the Parliament met in Parliament House , Melbourne , which it borrowed from the Parliament of Victoria ( which sat in the Royal Exhibition Building ) .