What city was the capital of Australia in 1920?

Answer 1

Australia has only ever had one capital city: Canberra.

Some websites incorrectly report that Melbourne was once the capital city of Australia, but this is not the case.

Considerable rivalry existed between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities. For this reason, it was decided that the national capital could not be either city.

However, Melbourne was the temporary seat of power in Australia - a fine line of difference. From 1901 to 1927, the Australian Parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne, which it borrowed from the parliament of the state of Victoria, which in turn sat in the Exhibition Building. This was the only building in all of Australia which was large enough to house the parliament. This had to occur whilst the city of Canberra and Parliament House was being built.

Answer 2

Australia has only ever had one capital city, and that has always been Canberra. There is a mistaken belief that Melbourne was once Australia's capital city, because it was the only city with a building large enough for the Federal Parliament to meet in. Melbourne was never Australia's capital city - just the temporary seat of power.