[1][2] In 1854, a Militia Act was passed in South Australia, giving the Government the power to call out a force of 2000 volunteers.

A military parade ground was located in the area now occupied by the north and east wings of the South Australian Museum.

[1] As the development of a Commonwealth public works department took some time, the responsibility for constructing and maintaining Commonwealth Government buildings in South Australia, specifically post offices, customs and defence buildings, was initially given to the South Australian Public Works Department.

[1] The building served as the headquarters of the 4th Military District during World War I, and was known colloquially as "The Home of the Brass Hats".

The facade features two large towers, placed at either end of the building, and a central section with a segmental pediment, containing a coat-of-arms.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Headquarters Building 32, Keswick Barracks, entry number 105308 in the Australian Heritage Database published by the Commonwealth of Australia 2019 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 15 May 2019.