The team responsible for the large and valuable art collection at Parliament House in Canberra have a unique set of circumstances to manage. The Department of Parliamentary Services called on Smarttrack RFID to implement an RFID solution to meet their specific needs.
Art Services manages a large collection of highly significant Australian artworks, numbering approximately 8,000 items. The art collection is very mobile and has the added complexity of being managed under a unique environment and set of circumstances. The implementation of RFID solution aims to address these complexities and streamline control processes.
Art Services has around 50% of all artworks on display at any one time, throughout the many public spaces, corridors and parliamentary offices in Parliament House. By comparison, most art galleries display only around 5% of their collections. Adding to this, Federal Parliament occupies a 32 hectare site containing thousands of rooms, making auditing and tracking artwork throughout the entire site very challenging.

With large numbers of artworks located in the offices of Parliamentarians, whenever there is a change of government, by-election or cabinet reshuffle, art must be quickly moved around as required. After an election, thousands of pieces of art need to be moved around the site in a six week period.
Our collection is large and extremely mobile. Not only does it need to be tracked with frequent moves, but we needed a solution that allowed quick audits of artwork in MPs offices with minimum interruption.
Justine van Mourik
Director – Art Collection & Exhibitions
Department of Parliamentary Services


