The States Wall Mural, in six sections, each with two panels, contains the emblems of the states and images representing regional economic activities. The panels symbolise the role of the states in the Australian federation and the significance of the High Court of Australia at the apex of the Australian judicial system. The artist Jan Senbergs, provided the following interpretation of the work (from left to right):
- panel 1 represents Western Australia: the black swan over motifs based on the Pilbara Range, mining, and the vastness of the land
- panel 2 represents South Australia: the black and white Piping Shrike over motifs of Colonel Light, the founder of the settlement of Adelaide, and architecture in Adelaide
- panel 3 represents Queensland: the Maltese Cross and the Crown over motifs of tropical vegetation, plantations and rural industry
- panel 4 represents New South Wales: the Cross of St George and the Lion of England over motifs of the populace, suburbs, and industrial structures
- panel 5 represents Victoria: the Crown and the constellation the Southern Cross, over motifs of commerce and industrial landscapes
- panel 6 represents Tasmania: the Lion of Tasmania over motifs of the sea, horizon, the island, and the timber industry.
Patrick McCaughey has described the panels as emblems on top of a representative landscape or subject – the 'essentially emblematic panels are carried to the viewer by the bristling drama of the frame, which animates what otherwise might have been a merely dutiful wall'.
Elsewhere in the Court building in Canberra, State badges can be seen in the shield in the Commonwealth Coat of Arms on the glass façade above the main entrance and in Courts 2 and 3, and in Court 1 in the woven tapestry. The Royal Coat of Arms for the United Kingdom on the High Court's rear façade signifies the reception of the British common law in Australia and the former right of appeal to the Privy Council in England. The commencement of the Australia Acts in 1986 confirmed the High Court of Australia as the final court of appeal, and that no appeals could be taken from Australian courts to the Privy Council.