Sydney Town Hall in the context of St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney

The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing Australian colonies — New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia (which also governed what is now the Northern Territory), Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia — united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, establishing a system of federalism in Australia. The colonies of Fiji and New Zealand were originally part of this process, but they decided not to join the federation.

Following federation, the six colonies that united to form the Commonwealth of Australia as states kept the systems of government (and the bicameral legislatures) that they had developed as separate colonies, but they also agreed to have a federal government that was responsible for matters concerning the whole nation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January 1901, the colonies collectively became states of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Town Hall railway station is a heritage-listed underground suburban rail station located in the centre of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The station opened on 28 February 1932. It is named after the Sydney Town Hall, located directly above the station.

George McRae (10 September 1857 – 16 June 1923) was a Scottish-Australian architect who migrated from his native Edinburgh to Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales and designed some of Sydney's best-known buildings, including completion of the Sydney Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, and the lower entrance to Taronga Zoo.

Hong Kong House, also known since 1995 as the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Sydney, is a landmark heritage building and former hotel in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1891 to a design by Ambrose Thornley, it is located on 80 Druitt Street, at the corner with York Street, and is adjacent to other prominent heritage landmarks, the Sydney Town Hall and the Queen Victoria Building. Formerly known as Gresham Hotel, the property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

Hong Kong House houses the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, the office of the Hong Kong Tourism Board in Australasia, Invest Hong Kong and the office of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. The orchestra has performed at the Sydney Opera House as its home concert hall, since the venue's opening in 1973. Simone Young is the orchestra's current chief conductor and the first female conductor in the post.

The Sydney Symphony performs around 150 concerts a year to a combined annual audience of more than 350,000. The regular subscription concert series are mostly performed at the Sydney Opera House, but other venues around Sydney are used as well, including the City Recital Hall at Angel Place and the Sydney Town Hall. The Town Hall was the home of the orchestra until the opening of the Opera House in 1973. Since then, most concerts have been taking place in the Opera House's Concert Hall (capacity: 2,679 seats).

The history of Sydney is the story of the peoples of the land that has become modern Sydney.

Aboriginal Australians have inhabited the Sydney region for at least 30,000 years, and Aboriginal engravings and cultural sites are common in the Sydney area. The traditional owners of the land on which modern Sydney stands are the Darug, Dharawal and Eora people. The history of the city began with the arrival of a First Fleet of British ships in 1788 and the foundation of a penal colony by Great Britain.