Australian Museum

Founded in 1827, the Australian Museum is the oldest museum in the country, and its building on College Street has grown by accretion since the 1840s into a mix of sandstone galleries and modern extensions. The collections cover natural history, with skeletons, minerals, insects and a well-known dinosaur gallery, but the deeper strength is cultural: extensive holdings from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and from across the Pacific, presented with community involvement in galleries such as Garrigarrang and Bayala Nura. A rooftop terrace opened with the recent redevelopment gives views over Hyde Park and St Mary's Cathedral. General entry has been free since 2020.

History

The Philosophical Society of Australasia planned a museum in 1821 but folded in 1822, and Alexander Macleay, the entomologist who became Colonial Secretary, lobbied for one; in 1827 Earl Bathurst, Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote of his intention to found a public museum and granted £200 a year, making it the oldest natural history museum in Australia and the fifth oldest in the world. Its first custodian, William Holmes, appointed on 16 June 1829, accidentally shot himself while collecting at Moreton Bay in 1831, the museum, first known as the Colonial or Sydney Museum, took its present name in 1836, and the Australian Museum Act of 1853 gave it a board of trustees; Gerard Krefft established its scientific standing in the 1860s (Wikipedia, Australian Museum).

What to look for

• The First Nations galleries - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections and stories.
• The Pacific collections - one of the major holdings of Pacific material anywhere.
• The dinosaur and skeleton galleries - fossils and comparative anatomy displays.
• The rooftop terrace - views across Hyde Park and the cathedral.

When to go

Year-round; school holidays fill the family galleries and weekday mornings during term are calmest. Special exhibitions run for months at a time and are ticketed separately, sometimes requiring timed entry.

Practical notes

The building's layout is confusing, a result of two centuries of extensions. Major touring exhibitions are expensive and can be crowded even with timed tickets. Some older displays feel dated next to the redeveloped galleries.

Nearby

Hyde Park is across the road; St Mary's Cathedral stands at its northern end.

Key facts