Old Treasury building

Have you ever looked up Collins Street in Melbourne to the grand buildings at the top at Spring Street? Next to Parliament House is the Old Treasury building, regarded as one of the finest nineteenth century buildings in Australia.

Looking south, the nearly completed Treasury building, with the Yarra River in the background & Macarthur Street in the foreground

The building occupies a unique position in the history of Melbourne. Its origins lie in the 1850s Victorian Gold Rush, which brought great wealth to Melbourne, and its construction between 1858 and 1862 was symbolic of the city's rapid development. The Old Treasury was designed by 19-year-old architect J.J. Clark. His design was in the Renaissance Revival style. The elegantly proportioned three-storey rectangular building is 200 feet across, 55 feet deep and 70 feet tall, with three main entrances to the ground floor, a central section portico with upper story colonnaded arcade and elaborately detailed window pilasters and pediments.

The floor above the barrel-vaulted basement is a metre thick -

The exterior of the building is finished in Bacchus Marsh sandstone, its bluestone foundations were mined from Bald Hills Quarry and As well as being built to store the colony's gold, the Treasury Building provided offices for the leaders of the young colony, including the Governor, the Premier (at the time called Chief Secretary), the Treasurer and the Auditor General.


A leading public building, located in a prominent position with open space around it, the Treasury has been the focus for celebrations and major public events. The Victorian Governor continues to meet there with the Executive Council to sign off legislation in the magnificent first floor Executive Council Chamber.
But sometimes they'll let ordinary people in!

Entry is free between 10am -4pm on Wednesdays and Sundays.