The High Court of Australia, on the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin between the National Gallery and Questacon, is the country's supreme court of appeal. The 1980 Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs building is a striking concrete-and-glass composition with a vast central public hall — 24 metres high, with a 53-metre internal waterfall — and three smaller courtrooms surrounding it.
The court is open to the public on weekdays, and you can walk into any of the courtrooms and sit on the gallery benches whether or not court is sitting. When the court is in session — usually two-week sittings in Canberra each month — the proceedings are open to the public; this is a remarkable thing to see if you have any interest in constitutional law or are curious about what the highest court in a major democracy looks like in operation.