The terms of the original leases in the Federal Capital Territory (as the ACT was known until 1938) required that work be commenced on building within two years.
[7] Prompted by Lewis Radford, the Bishop of Goulburn (which included the FCT), the Church’s General Synod Canberra Committee held an open competition for the design of a cathedral and associated buildings.
[10] Little real progress occurred, and a successor bishop, Cecil Warren sought approval from General Synod in 1981 for a national ‘Great Church’ to be completed in time for the Australian Bicentenary in 1988.
[11] The site was finally developed following a change of direction, led by the then bishop, George Browning, the Governor-General, William Deane and the Indigenous leader Lowitja O'Donoghue.
The Centre operates under four pillars: - Wisdom through civil society - Peace through new religious engagements - Resilience in institutional life and ethical leadership - Creativity through the arts, sciences and culture
The Centre is located on a small knoll overlooking Lake Burley Griffin on Kings Avenue and immediately south of the Parliamentary Triangle in the heart of Canberra.
[citation needed] Atop the site is a tall, stylised, steel cross, on the centreline of the major axis of the Centre's building plan.