The Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre is a privately owned

convention centre A convention center (American and British English spelling differences, American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a Convention (meeting), convention, where individuals and groups ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Description

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The centre has a floor space of and can cater for 5,000 delegates. It contains state-of-the-art technical facilities, six exhibition pavilions, a 2,500 seat tiered theatre, banquet/ballrooms and 23 meeting rooms.

History

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Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party ...

, announced in November 2000 that a contract had been signed with

Multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...

after five months of negotiations. Construction was to commence in June 2001 with a late 2003 completion date. Built by Multiplex at a cost of $225 million it was officially opened on 26 August 2004 by Premier

Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...

. Its construction was extremely controversial, owing to an overblown budget and an unprepossessing external appearance. It has been described as a "Soviet-era mausoleum" and a "giant grey cockroach", as well as a

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...

whose financial viability has been questionable. However, it made it possible for Perth to host the

2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, commonly known as CHOGM 2011, was the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. Held in P ...

(CHOGM), with heads of state and official delegates of more than 50 member countries. The Wyllie Group have a 35-year lease on the centre until 2039. It is managed by Spotless, who committed to spend $50 million over 22 years starting in 2016, ensuring Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre remains a major destination for national and international events and provides economic value for Perth and Western Australia. In 2016 the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre attracted more than 900,000 visitors, including 98,000 national and international delegates. However, a report released that same year by the Tourism Council of WA asserted that the Centre should be expanded with an additional of space in order to remain competitive. In 2019, it was found that the underground carpark was experiencing

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

issues. In 2022, Brookfield purchased a 50 percent stake in the centre. In January 2024, the WA State Government revealed plans by Wyllie Group and Brookfield to upgrade the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The proposal includes expanding the centre's capacity as well as building a new waterfront area with direct access to the Swan River with three jetties and a floating performance stage, and a new pedestrian bridge connecting the centre to

Elizabeth Quay Elizabeth Quay is a mixed-use development project in the Perth#cbd, Perth central business district. Encompassing an area located on the north shore of Perth Water near the landmark Swan Bells, the precinct was named in honour of Elizabeth II, ...

. Wyllie Group hopes the upgrade will be completed by 2029.

Location

The centre is between

Mounts Bay Road Mounts Bay Road is a major road in Perth, Western Australia, extending southwest from the Perth central business district, central business district along the north bank of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River, at the base of Kings Pa ...

and the

Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a controlled-access highway, freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth (suburb), central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of List of road routes in Western ...

off-ramp, with the

development adjacent to the east of the complex.

Operations

It is the only purpose-built convention centre in Western Australia and can cater for functions of up to 5,000 delegates. The project was aimed at attracting major conventions to Perth, with the state's tourism and hospitality industries in mind. The centre has two public lifts, one travelling from the underground car park, through level one, concluding at level two; the other from level two to level three.

Events

Sexpo SEXPO is a health, sexuality and lifestyle exhibition that takes place in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. The first American SEXPO exhibition will take place in the United States in 2023. Founded in 1995, the event h ...

Kingdomcity Kingdomcity is a Pentecostal multi-site church in multiple locations around the world. Originally based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before it expanded to Perth in Western Australia, Kingdomcity now also has locations in Africa, Europe, and many o ...

Channel Seven Perth Telethon The Channel Seven Perth Telethon, regionally known simply as Telethon, is an annual telethon established in 1968 by philanthropist James Cruthers, Sir James Cruthers and Brian Treasure, and produced by TVW, a Seven Network-owned television statio ...

(2005 to 2019) *

Madman Anime Festival Anime Festival (formerly Madman Anime Festival or MadFest) was an annual Australian anime and Japanese culture convention held in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. The convention was organised by Madman Anime. The convention was inaugur ...

Oz Comic Con Oz Comic Con is a speculative fiction entertainment and comic convention that has been running since 2012 within various major Australian cities, and is a local franchise of the New York Comic Con. Attendees have included Nintendo Australia. ...

*Perth Home Show *Perth Motor Show *Skills West Expo *

Supanova Pop Culture Expo Supanova Comic Con & Gaming (also known simply as Supanova) is a fan convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime, gaming and collectables. It is held annually in the Australian cities of Sydney, Brisbane, M ...

(since 2014) *

Wai-Con Wai-Con was an annual anime convention held in Perth, Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia. The convention was held over two days and aimed to promote Japanese culture (especially anime and manga) to the general community. Wai-Con was cre ...

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 The 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, commonly known as CHOGM 2011, was the 22nd Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. Held in Perth, Western Australia, between 28 and 30 October 2011 and hosted by the Pr ...

References

External links

* {{Cinemas in Western Australia Buildings and structures in Perth, Western Australia Landmarks in Perth, Western Australia Convention centres in Australia Buildings and structures completed in 2004 2004 establishments in Australia Event venues established in 2004 Music venues in Perth, Western Australia Economy of Perth, Western Australia