Which was the first building in Australia to be awarded a UNESCO World Heritage status?

The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage-listed building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, built in 1879-80 as part of the international exhibition movement, which presented over 50 exhibitions between 1851 and 1915 around the globe. This building was designed by the architect Joseph Reed of Reed and Barnes architecture, who also designed the Melbourne Town Hall, the State Library of Victoria, and the Baroque style gardens. The building is representative of the money and pride Victoria had in the 1870s.

On 1 July 2004, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens were granted listing as a UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage Site, the first building in Australia to be granted this status. The heritage listing states that "The Royal Exhibition Building is Australia's only major extant nineteenth-century exhibition building. It is one of the few major nineteenth-century exhibition buildings to survive worldwide."