The Rum Hospital building is significant not just as the cradle of Australian democracy, but as one of the oldest public buildings in Australia.

Extensive restoration work has recently been undertaken on this historically significant building while also ensuring its continued functionality in a working legislature and restored to a Georgian colour scheme.

The recent investigations confirmed original plasterwork applied to the interior of the Rum Hospital was principally lime plaster, made from clay-based sand, shell lime from locally collected seashells and reinforced with horsehair. Sticks and twigs were embedded into the plaster.

Conservators conserved small fragments of the early wallpaper that decorated the rooms.

The Rum Hospital has returned to its original proportions by raising the ceiling to the original height, levelling the floor with new flooring and installation of improved lighting, and new air conditioning. The conservation has enabled the original window shutters to be used once again.

A handcrafted door was made to fit the newly discovered original opening between the Parkes Room and the Legislative Assembly foyer.

The exterior façade of Parliament House was repainted in 2023 to reflect its Georgian heritage. The new colour palette reinforces the historic relationship with the Mint building, the southern building of Governor Macquarie’s Rum Hospital.