Welcome to the website of the Canberra Baha’i Community. Find out about our activities, news and services and introductory information about the Bahá’í Faith.
Our activities are open to everyone. We host a range of community and spiritual activities such as children’s classes, youth spiritual empowerment courses, devotional meetings and adult study groups.
The community’s physical home is the Bahá’í Centre in Weston. The centre is open seven days a week to visitors.
Our Centre is open for personal prayer, meditation and reflection, for a cup a tea, a friendly chat. Contact us if you would like to visit. Guided tours for individuals, families or groups can be organised on request.
About
The Bahá’ís of Canberra reflect the diversity of city and come from a wide variety of ethnic and other backgrounds. We are an open and welcoming community. Worship, service and friendship are central to our ways of being. We come together to workshop together in harmony. Based on the idea that all peoples derive their inspiration from the same heavenly source, we welcome people of all backgrounds, faiths or ages.
We work together to help bring about positive change in society: through children’s classes, youth spiritual empowerment programs, study groups which reflect on our purpose in life and how we can contribute to a better world and other activities, through fostering social and economic development and participating in constructive conversations for a better future. Our meetings are grounded in our spiritual development through prayer and meditation. We work to create a community characterised by love, acceptance, encouragement and mutual support.
We welcome the involvement and contribution of everyone who shares our vision of a world which is more connected with its Creator, more united, more harmonious and fair for all. More details of these activities can be found on the Activities page.
ACT Baha’i Centre
The ACT Bahá’í Centre in Canberra is at 18 Hickey Court, Weston. It is a place where everyone is welcome, irrespective of religious or other background. To visit the Centre contact us by phone or email at the contact details below.
The centre is designed as a community centre and hosts a wide range of activities including children’s classes, devotional meetings, public meetings on a wide range of topics and as an administrative and service centre for the Bahá’í community residing in the Australian Capital Territory.
The construction of the centre was made possible by the voluntary donations of Bahá’ís from around Australia and the voluntary work of individuals over many years. The Centre was opened on 10 December 1999 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane.
Youth play ball on centre grounds
The Centre also hosts the offices of the Australian Bahá’í Community which serves the community by undertaking work in fields such as human rights, the advancement of the status of women, global prosperity and moral development.
Our History
Helen Mason, c. 1962
The Canberra Bahá’í community began in 1951, when Mrs Pym Trueman came to Canberra with her husband who was employed in the Personnel Department of the public service. She was the first Bahá’í to settle in Canberra.
Shortly afterwards, in 1952, a 15 year old girl, Miss Helen Mason, became the first person to become a Bahá’í in Canberra. She had learned of the Bahá’í Faith from her sister, Miss Margaret Mason, then studying nursing in Sydney. Later in the 1950s, Margaret Mason and her husband Mr Noel Bluett moved to Canberra and became the focus of a growing Bahá’í community.
On 21 April 1957 the community became firmly established with the election of its first Local Spiritual Assembly, a local governing council elected by Bahá’ís in every locality where there are nine or more members.
The community has continued to grow steadily and to increasingly contribute to the life of Canberra. In 1968 the community wrote to the Department of External Relations regarding the observance of the twentieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the 1980s community members were active in conflict resolution, contributing to the establishment of the ACT Conflict Resolution Service. In 1982 the Canberra Bahá’í community hosted a major international conference of the Bahá’í Faith, attended by 2900 representatives of Bahá’í communities from the Asia-Pacific region.
From the mid-1980s the diversity of the community was enhanced by the arrival of Bahá’í refugees from Iran who settled in Canberra. Today the Canberra Bahá’í community comprises individuals with a wide diversity of cultural backgrounds, reflecting Canberra ‘s multicultural diversity.
Canberra Bahá’ís continue to contribute actively to the welfare of society in fields such as interfaith dialogue, the promotion of human rights and observance of refugee week.
Contact
The Baha’i Centre is open to visitors by contacting us to arrange a visit. We can be contacted at our email or via our Facebook feed linked below.
