A treasure of the Australian National Wildlife Collection, one of several preserved specimens of the Paradise Parrot (Psephotus pulcherrimus). The species is extinct, last seen in its habitat of inland south-eastern Queensland in 1927.

From the National Library of Australia’s renowned Rex Nan Kivell Collection of paintings, rare books and ephemera that chronicle the advent of Europeans in the Pacific, a children’s board game from the 1850s – Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia. As an example of the richness and diversity of the collection, this was recently on temporary public display in the library’s popular Treasures Gallery.

The Australian National Insect Collection is more than drawer upon drawer of gorgeously coloured and patterned butterflies and moths. It houses a staggering 12 million specimens among insects and other arthropods, including spiders, ticks and mites collected over the previous 85 years.

Two exquisite pocket globes from the National Library of Australia’s map collection.
Both were made for teaching purposes. The globe in the wooden case was made by Leonard Cushee in London in 1750 and features a sketchy projection of the then unexplored east coast of Australia. Cartographer John Cary made the celestial globe in London in 1791. Its papier-mâché case features a covering of durable sharkskin.

Some of the more than 2000 artefacts and works of art in the National Museum of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collection. Only a fraction of the collection is on display to the public at any one time.

Near relatives – in this case the regent and superb parrot – placed under ultraviolet light at the Australian National Wildlife Collection. Fluorescence under the ultraviolet part of the spectrum reveals even more complex differences in plumage colour and pattern, and is therefore a particularly useful taxonomic tool in studying geographical variation and closely related species.

One of Canberra’s most familiar and well-loved buildings, in its previous life the Museum of Australian Democracy served as the nation’s first parliament house for six decades, from 1927 to 1988.

The compactus shelves of the National Herbarium contain roughly 1.2 million dried and pressed Australian botanical specimens. The collection acts as something of a lending library for plants, with thousands of specimens going back and forth to CSIRO, university and museum scientists across Australia each year.

As part of a brief that reflects politics and political debate and activity in their broadest senses, the Museum of Australian Democracy collects ephemeral items such as anti-war badges, stickers and posters. This badge dates from the anti-conscription campaigns of the 1960s Vietnam War.

Some specimens from the Australian National Insect Collection of rhinoceros beetle found in Australia and New Guinea. An early emphasis for the collection was the study of insect species that were commercially significant, particular as pests.

The National Museum of Australia presents several themes in the history of Australia: that of 50,000 years of Indigenous heritage, our history since 1788, and how we interact with the environment and our landscape.

Established in 1980, the National Museum of Australia has only had a permanent home since 2001. Located on the Acton Peninsula on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, the distinctively playful architecture of Howard Raggat is based on a theme of knotted ropes, symbolising the intertwining of the stories of all Australians.

Conservators at the National Archives of Australia’s conservation lab in the northern Canberra suburb of Mitchell prepare for a forthcoming 2013 exhibition entitled Design 29: Creating a Capital. As an important event in Canberra’s centenary celebrations, the exhibition will feature the original drawings of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, the winners of the international competition for the design of the national capital.

A treasure of the National Archives of Australia and part of the pedigree of a remarkable city. ‘City and Environs’ was one of a suite of drawings by the American architect Marion Mahony Griffin supporting her husband Walter’s 1912 competition winning design for the national capital of Australia.

A volunteer carefully labels and sorts birds’ eggs. Along with preserved bird skins, skeletons and tissue samples, birds’ eggs help to complete the data picture of Australia’s avifauna housed in the Australian National Wildlife Collection.

A species under threat – Menzel’s wattle (Acacia menzelii). The Australian National Botanic Gardens is dedicated to the propagation and display of Australian flora. The propagation of rare and endangered species is one of the gardens’ top priorities.

From deserts to the moist tropics, more than 7,000 species, or a third of all Australian plants are represented and displayed in their community settings on the 40 hectare Black Mountain site of the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

Behind the scenes at the National Library of Australia. A motorised and automated trolley glides through a corridor in the library’s stack, bringing books and other materials to library users. With over 12 million items in the collection only a fraction of that number is at hand in the public reading rooms.

Rod Butler, Head of Preservation and Technical Services at the National Screen and Sound Archive, stands amid a complex array of control panels and copying equipment. The Archive has the daunting task of preserving Australia’s film and sound heritage across a range of media from the earliest wax cylinder recordings and unstable nitrate film to the last developments in digital technology.

From Mount Ainslie, visitors to Canberra admire the view over Lake Burley Griffin and the Parliamentary Triangle, the symbolic heart of the national capital. Parliament House can be seen atop Capital Hill in the distance. The brilliant white façade of the Museum of Australian Democracy lies immediately below it.