The record, and what beating it means

Who holds it

Holder

The Rostrum Clubs of Tasmania, with 725 people

Duration

29 days, 4 hours, 3 minutes, 20 seconds

Motion

“Tasmania’s greatest asset is its people”

Where

The lawns of Parliament House, Hobart, Australia

When

2 November – 1 December 1996

Ireland held it before

Students of University College Galway, with staff and invited speakers, debated “This House has all the Time in the World”for exactly 28 days, from 2 February to 2 March 1995. The record was Ireland's until Tasmania took it in December 1996.

The main rules

1. 01Any competitive debating format may be used, but it must be approved in advance by Guinness World Records.
2. 02Two teams, at least five people on each bench at all times, seated as a traditional debating chamber. If either side drops below five, the attempt ends.
3. 03The debate runs continuously, with no more than 30 seconds between speakers.
4. 04Every speaker must talk for at least two minutes each time, and no contribution may repeat an earlier one word for word.
5. 05Every member of a team must make at least five speeches over the course of the attempt.
6. 06Nobody may sit on the benches for more than eight hours at a time, and must stay off for at least an hour before returning.
7. 07Participants may not switch sides.
8. 08The debate itself may pause only on rest that has been earned: five minutes for every full, uninterrupted hour. Unused rest carries forward and counts towards the total time. A break longer than the rest earned ends the attempt, and the attempt must finish with at least ten minutes of unbroken debate.
9. 09Two independent witnesses are present throughout every active period, in shifts of no more than four hours with at least four hours off before returning. They keep the logbook and are not required during rest breaks.
10. 10The whole attempt is filmed from start to finish by a static camera with a timer clearly visible at all times. Rest breaks need not be filmed.
11. 11The attempt takes place in a public place unless Guinness World Records allows otherwise. Food and drink are allowed as long as the debate continues.
12. 12Nobody under 16 may take part. Written guardian permission is required at 16 and 17.

These follow the specific guidelines pack Guinness World Records issued to Castlebridge Inspire on 14 October 2026. The pack is binding: a breach of any part of it disqualifies the attempt, with no appeal. It is not yet an authorisation, which comes only when Guinness World Records' standard agreement is signed.

What has to be proved afterwards

A record is only a record once Guinness World Records has verified it. Every minute of the attempt has to be accounted for, which is why the witnesses, the timer and the logbook matter as much as the speakers.

• //A cover letter: date, time, place, the total time achieved, and who attempted it.
• //A statement from every independent witness for every shift, listing the times they were present and the rules they watched being kept.
• //Photographs of the venue, the benches, the participants and the witnesses, and of the key moments.
• //Video of the entire attempt, camera static, files titled in the order they were recorded.
• //The Guinness World Records endurance logbook, with every change on the benches, every witness changeover and every rest break timed.
• //Press, radio or online coverage, which helps but is not required.

Isn't this record already Irish?

There are two similarly named records, and they are different challenges. Longest debate marathon (team) is held by the College Historical Society of Trinity College Dublin, who debated for 27 hours 58 minutes in October 2023 with a fixed team of eight speakers.

Longest marathon debating — the one Castlebridge is going after — allows a team of unlimited size to rotate through the benches, which is how Tasmania kept going for over 29 days with 725 people. Different rules, different record, and it is that one which has been out of Ireland since 1996.