Capturing Nature

Early photography at the Australian Museum 1857–1893

Special exhibition on now

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Museum Opening Hours
9.30am - 5.00pm
Monday - Sunday
Closed Christmas Day
Where to find us
1 William Street
Sydney NSW 2010
Australia

200 Treasures of the Australian Museum

The Westpac Long Gallery showcases 100 treasures from our collections alongside the stories of 100 of Australia’s most-influential people.

Permanent exhibition
Open daily

Wild Planet

Welcome to life on Earth. Every one of Earth’s millions of species is unique, but they are all connected through evolution. Come and see life in all its glorious diversity – over 400 animals under one roof!

Permanent exhibition
Open daily

Museum News

Read about our latest discoveries, research expeditions and collection objects on display.

Blog posts
Podcast series
Explore magazine
Future plans

Bayala Nura: Yarning Country

Explore and celebrate Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures through a rich diversity of objects and stories of living culture. See more than 250 fascinating objects from Indigenous communities around Australia.

Permanent exhibition
Open daily

Plan your Visit

From dinosaurs to cultural treasures from Australia and the Pacific, the Australian Museum has something for everyone. Open daily 9.30am-5pm, except Christmas day.

What’s on calendar
Admission
Getting here

Birds of Australia

Meet some of Australia’s most famous and fascinating feathered residents and learn about the ingenious ways they have adapted to life on the continent they call home.

Permanent exhibition
Open daily

Dinosaurs

How well do you know your dinosaurs? Discover the amazing creatures that ruled the world until 65 million years ago in this exhibition that brings the Mesozoic era to life.

Permanent exhibition
Open daily

Visit the Museum

From dinosaurs, precious gemstones to cultural treasures from Australia and the Pacific, the Australian Museum has something for everyone. Plan and book your visit today.

Exhibitions & Events Admission & Tickets Getting to the Museum
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Lunchtime Conversation Series: Australians Shaping the Nation

A stellar selection of distinguished Australians drawn from the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibition in the Westpac Long Gallery.

Every Tuesday, 12.30–1.30pm, 21 May–25 June
Book now
Toddler in Kidspace

Playgroups for preschoolers

Join our weekly term-time playgroups for children aged 9 months to 3 years (Tiny Tots) or 3 to 5 years (Mini Explorers) and their parents or carers.

Every Friday during term time
9.45am and 11am
Learn more
Tourism Australia - First Nations Galleries

Waranara First Nations tours

waranara means ‘to seek’ in the First Nations languages of the Sydney region. This tour is for those that wish to seek knowledge and understanding of this land’s First Peoples.

Every Saturday, 11.30am & 1pm
View details
Sydney Science Festival 2018

Science in the City

Join in the biggest celebration of science for schools, presented by the Australian Museum in collaboration with over 50 other leading organisations.

Interactive workshops
Science shows
Speciality Expo
Plan your visit
Treasures Illuminated Launch

Treasures Illuminated

See the 200 Treasures of the Australian Museum exhibition burst to life with this spectacular storytelling projection in the newly renovated Westpac Long Gallery.

11am and 2pm daily
Find out more
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HumanNature

The HumanNature Lecture Series returns to the Australian Museum in 2019 featuring leading international and Australian scholars in the Environmental Humanities.

Monthly night talks
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Museum Store

Come and explore our exciting range of products inspired by the Museum's collections. All proceeds help fund our science, education and exhibitions programs.

Open daily 9.30am–5pm
Shop the Museum range
Cafe and view

Food and dining

Enjoy food with a view! Take a break on level 4, No. 1 William cafe with stunning views of St Mary’s Cathedral, Hyde Park and the Sydney city skyline.

Open daily 9.30am–4.30pm
Kitchen closes at 3pm
More details
Australian Museum Science Fest 2016

What’s on

Discover what’s on at the Australian Museum using our exhibitions and events calendar.

Exhibitions
Playgroups
Talks and tours
Workshops
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Access

Everything you need to know about planning your visit to the Australian Museum.

Facilities & services
Accessible programs
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Book a group visit

Discover the wide range of educator led programs and self-guided gallery tours at the museum. Bookings are essential for schools and groups.

Tourism packages
Group bookings
School bookings
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Educator led programs

Touch real artefacts, discover museum treasures and go behind the scenes of the Australian Museum.

Early years program
Primary & Secondary school programs
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Kids at the Museum

Check out our ever-changing programs for kids of all ages.

Free general admission for kids
Under 5's programs
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Where nature, science & culture intersect

We are Australia’s first museum, and have over 21 million scientific specimens and cultural objects in our collections. Learn more about our latest discoveries, animal factsheets and education programs.

Museum News Animal Factsheets Education Programs
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Australian Museum blog

Read the latest news from the Australian Museum, or discover our interesting archive of blog posts.

Science news
What's new at the Museum
Educational insights
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Cultural collections

Learn about First Nations cultural material in our collections and our engagement with communities to activate stories of living culture.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander
Pacific & International
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Entomology Collection Area

Natural Science collections

Discover the different natural science research areas and their extensive collections, including the name-bearing type specimens we hold at the Museum.

Why we collect
Collection areas
Specimens & Types
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Climate Change

The Australian Museum has been involved in raising awareness and researching impacts of Climate Change for over a decade.

What are we doing?
What is climate change?
Learn more
Western Rosella

Object and species identification

We're here to help with Australian animal identification, natural history and cultural object enquiries!

Identify a species
Cultural material
Fossils & minerals
Ask an expert!
Museum in a Box

Museum in a Box®

Learn more about over 30 different Museum boxes available to educational institutions across Australia.

Real specimens
Learning resources
Hands on experiences
Find out more
Mineral specimen

Earth science

The Mineralogy and Palaeontology collections include rocks, minerals, gemstones and fossils, and reveal how the earth was formed.

Shaping the Earth
Minerals
Fossils
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Feathertail glider

Animal factsheets

Discover the astonishing variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, marine life and more in the Australian Museum collections.

Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Extinct animals
Find out more
Light Microscopy - Mark McGrouther

Science of life

Learn about biodiversity, the scientific study of life and organisms, and the story of human evolution.

Stages of Decomposition
The Human story
Learn more
Tyrannosaurs

Dinosaurs and their relatives

Discover the Mesozoic era of the dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are classified as a group of reptiles, although some of their features are found in mammals and birds living today.

The Mesozoic era
Dinosaur factsheets
Australian dinosaurs
Find out more

Join & Give

Make a donation. Become a member or volunteer. Or put your passion into practice on a citizen science project. Find out how you can get involved with the Australian Museum.

Become a Member Make a Donation Volunteer with Us
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Become a Member

Enjoy the very best of the Australian Museum with free entry, exclusive events and much more.

Benefits
Packages
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Join and save today
Westpac Long Gallery Level 1 Collection Cases

Australian Museum Foundation

The Foundation raises funds for scientific research; to offer exceptional exhibitions and educational programs and to acquire significant objects for our collection.

EOFY appeal
Major Gifts
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FrogID

FrogID is a national citizen science project that is helping us learn more about what is happening to Australia’s frogs.

Free mobile app
Record frog calls
Find out more
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Join the DigiVol volunteers

Join one of our virtual expeditions and help capture the wealth of information hidden in our Museum.

DigiVol Lab
Online digitisation
Get involved
2017 Volunteer Appreciation Presentations

Volunteer

Discover our exciting volunteer programs and how you can contribute to science research, the environment and culture at the Australian Museum.

Behind-the-scenes
Front-of-house
Citizen science
Find out more
Andrew Trevor-Jones, citizen scientist for Australasian Fishes

Citizen science

See our citizen science projects and discover how you can get involved and contribute!

DigiVol
FrogID
WingTags
Get involved
Life at Lizard: Waging war on the Crown-of-Thorns starfish

Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation

Proudly supporting science at the Australian Museum's Lizard Island Research Station and elsewhere on the Great Barrier Reef.

Support our research
Help save the reef
Get involved

About the Museum

The Australian Museum has been inspiring exploration of nature and culture for more than 190 years. Learn more about what we do, our extraordinary collections or our fascinating history.

Our Organisation Our History Visit the Media Centre
Kim McKay and Charles Wooley

Australian Museum News

Hear behind-the-scenes stories and read about our latest discoveries, research expeditions and collection objects on display.

Blog posts
Podcast series
Explore magazine
Future plans
Find out more
The Australian Museum

Our Organisation

More than a leading Sydney attraction, the Australian Museum is a hub of information, resources and research. Learn more about Australia’s first museum.

Mission statement
Leadership team
Polices and reports
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Australian Centre for Wildlife Genomics DNA lab 2015.

Australian Museum Research Institute

AMRI brings together scientific expertise and world-class research infrastructure to increase our knowledge of the world around us and inform environmental decision-making for a better future.

Biodiversity & geodiversity
Collections-based research
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Australian Museum - Master Plan NOV 2016

Building a better Museum

Find out about the Australian Museum's exciting new plans to improve visitor experience and attract global exhibitions.

$57.5 million refurbishment
Key service upgrades
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Lizard Island Research Station 2017

Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station

The Lizard Island Research Station is a world-leading supplier of on-reef facilities for coral reef research and education. Located on the northern Great Barrier Reef, 270 km north of Cairns in Queensland, Australia.

Research
Facilities
Planning a Trip
Resources
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Illustration of Australian mammal

Archives & Research Library

The Museum Archives and Research Library cares for the Museum’s institutional memory and its historic natural history book and journal collections dating from 1836.

Photographic archives
History
Rare books
Explore the archives
ACWG DNA Labs

Australian Centre for Wildlife Genomics

Our primary focus is on ecological applications such as species identification, individualisation, conservation and small population management.

Aviation wildlife strike
Conservation genomic projects
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Our History

Find out about the history of the Museum’s zoological and anthropological collections, its historic and contemporary buildings and the people who have worked here over nearly two centuries.

Celebrating 190 years
Past exhibitions
People
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Ornithology Collection Area 2018

Australian Museum Annual Reports

The Australian Museum Archives has digitised all the Annual Reports from 1853 to the present. Download our Annual Reports here.

2017-18 Annual Report
Annual Reports from the Archives
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Members get access to great benefits!

By becoming a Member of the Australian Museum, you can enjoy FREE ENTRY, discounts at the Museum Store and Rooftop Café, as well as the knowledge you are supporting our important research and education programs.

Join or renew your 12 month AM membership on or before 31 July 2019 and we will extend your membership to 31 August 2021 at no extra charge.

Join & Save Today!