Australian Museum

From January 6 2022
Every Thursday night
5pm – 9pm

Nights at the Museum

Why not visit us after dark? From 6 January to the end of June we will be open until 9pm on Thursday nights with live music, a pop-up bar and more.

Tours
Workshops
Film Screenings

Unsettled program series

Experience First Nations culture and histories through this immersive events program. Gain a deeper understanding of the groundbreaking Unsettled exhibition through tours, talks, films, workshops, meditation, weaving and much more.

Redeem your Dine & Discover vouchers at the AM

Redeem your Dine & Discover vouchers towards membership and events, including exhibition tours and at our restaurant, seven days a week, until 30 June 2022.

Redeem in person

School holidays

Our interactive workshops make learning about science and culture lots of fun for kids aged 5 – 16 years.

Programs and events

11 December 2021 | 15 & 16 January 2022
10.30am - 1.30pm

Centralian Blue-Tongue Lizard by Robert Irwin, Queensland

Workshop: Wildlife photography for beginners

Learn the fundamentals of wildlife photography and how to get the most out of your digital camera in this workshop for beginners.

Permanent exhibition
Open daily
10am-5pm

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.

Located at the entrance to the Australian Museum

Museum Shop

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

Shop for beautiful objects

School programs and excursions

Book school excursions at the Australian Museum, Sydney, that inspire and engage students of all ages.

Virtual excursions
Educator-led tours

Book now

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
10am-5pm

Permanent exhibition
Open daily
10am-5pm

Pacific Spirit

Experience the diverse and dynamic cultures of the Pacific and admire the skill, creativity and spirituality of the region’s artists through this collection of colourful treasures from across the region.

Audio tours
Accessible audio descriptive guides

Audio tours of exhibitions

Delve into the Australian Museum exhibitions and enrich your understanding of our collection on display through our self-guided audio tours.

Listen now

Australian Museum news

Discover our research behind the scenes, read stories from our collections and learn about the latest fieldwork findings in our blog.

News highlights Listen to our Podcasts Visit the Media Centre

Truth-telling, as old as the hills

Another ‘Australia Day’ will be celebrated by some on 26 January, and with it undoubtedly a polarising debate on Australia’s founding story.

11 January 2022

Life in the ‘dead’ heart of Australia

New Australian fossil site offers details of verdant landscape 15 million years ago.

8 January 2022

This year, in our brimming biome home

Discover the Australian Museum's extraordinary achievements in the face of a testing year.

23 December 2021

Science news
What's new at the Museum
Educational insights

Saltbush dominated habitat of Aridulodrilus molesworthae.

Earthworms can sometimes surprise us

Australia is richly endowed with earthworm biodiversity, but of the 750 or so named species of earthworm in Australia, very few have been found in arid environments. The Broken Hill earthworm, a new genus and species, was a serendipitous find in an unexpected location. Find out more at the AM!

21 December 2021

Discoveries and disruptions: 2021 in AMRI

2021 was an unprecedented year for many: despite COVID-19 disruptions and restrictions, AMRI scientists discovered an unprecedented number of species, published at a new record, carried out fieldwork, and engaged with the public in our citizen science programs.

20 December 2021

News from LIRS: Marine pollution research

Each month, a selected blog from Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation (LIRRF) is featured at the AM. LIRRF supports scientific research & education at the AM’s Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef. For this month, we feature: Marine pollution research.

16 December 2021

Patient Zero, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Patient Zero: stories of disease outbreaks

In conversation with Joel Werner and Olivia Willis, co-winners of the 2021 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Science Journalism.

14 December

Dr Laetitia Gunton digitising sponge specimens.

Digitising the treasures of the sea

The Australian Museum is digitising its collections, including the historic and diverse Marine Invertebrate collection. We explain how the Museum is opening up its treasure trove of specimens to the world and the discoveries we are making along the way.

14 December 2021

Celebrating a decade of DigiVol!

DigiVol, the World’s first citizen science website for digitising museum collections, turns 10! Today we celebrate our volunteers, staff and all the brilliant collections that make this project so unique.

9 December 2021

Jonathan D. - Finalist, 2021 University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize — Secondary

Meet the teenage filmmaker with a flair for science communication

In conversation with Jonathan D., winner of the 2021 University of Sydney Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize – Secondary.

8 December 2021

More from our blog

Read about our latest discoveries, research expeditions or discover our interesting archive of blog posts.

Read our blog posts!

Where nature, science and culture intersect

We are Australia’s first museum, and have over 21 million scientific specimens and cultural objects in our collections. Learn more from First Nations people, discover thousands of animal factsheets and explore our online education resources.

Discover & Learn Animal Factsheets Learning Resources

First Nations

Learn more about this land’s First Nations peoples and cultures.

Collections
Knowledge
Exhibitions

Invertebrates
Vertebrates
Extinct animals

Animal factsheets

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

Identify an animal
Cultural objects
Fossils and minerals

Object and species identification

Use our online enquiry form for help with Australian animal identification, natural history and cultural object enquiries.

Ask an expert

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?

Megafauna
Fossil sites in Australia
Geological time scale

School girl looking at megafauna display

Australia over time

Learn about our evolving landscape, Australian megafauna and other extinct animals and how we use fossils to relate the animals of the past with those of today.

Virtual excursions
Educator-led tours
Learning journeys

For teachers and students

Our education programs and resources spark curiosity, develop scientific understanding and enhance cultural awareness in students of all ages.

The Mesozoic era
Dinosaur factsheets
Australian dinosaurs

Megafauna

Megafauna are large animals such as elephant, mammoth, rhinocerous and Australia's own diprotodon.

Extinction theory

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.

Stages of Decomposition
The Human story
Virtual Autopsy

Science of life

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

Shaping the Earth
Minerals
Fossils

Earth science

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

Ways to join the Foundation
Our supporters

Get involved

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 Contact Us

Donate to the Australian Museum Foundation

The Australian Museum Foundation relies on your donation to help invest in the future of Australian Museum research, education and programs.

Donate now

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

Support our research
Help save the reef

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.

Get involved

Sustainability at home

Leading a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle and saving money in the process is easy with these helpful factsheets.

Cut down on waste
Worm farming

Become a Member

With unique benefits, special events and exclusive access, an Australian Museum Membership unlocks even more wonder.

Membership packages
Museum discounts

Join and save today

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 online
FrogID mobile app
Australasian Fishes

Get involved

Australian Museum Eureka Prizes

Rewarding excellence in Australian research & innovation, leadership, science engagement, and school science

Key 2022 Dates
School Science
Frequently Asked Questions

Research
Exhibitions
Communication
Scholarships

Work at the Museum

Discover the exciting roles in research, exhibitions, education and communicating the relationship between people, culture and the natural environment.

Postgraduate Awards
Research
Fellowship

Awards & Fellowships

The Australian Museum Foundation & Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI) offers several different fellowships to visiting researchers.

Media releases
Photography & filming
Media contact

Media Centre

Discover the latest news about the Australian Museum and Australian Museum Research Institute. The Media Centre also provides information, images and expert comment on scientific and cultural research, exhibitions and wider Museum activities.

Organisation
Governance
Our history
Future plans

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 Museum Collections

About the Museum

Learn more about our organisational structure, what we do, the passionate people who work at the Australian Museum and our fascinating history.

Biodiversity & geodiversity
Collections-based research

Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI)

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.

Reef research
Planning a trip
Fellowships and grants

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.

Natural Sciences
Cultural collections
Museum Archives

Museum collections

The Australian Museum has spent more than 190 years building a vast collection of over 21.9 million objects and specimens alongside an enviable reputation for world-leading science.

Aviation wildlife strike
Conservation genomic projects

Australian Centre for Wildlife Genomics

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

Lord Howe Island
Solomon Islands
Historic expeditions

Research and expeditions

Learn about past Australian Museum expeditions and field work from around the globe that have contributed to our collections and research.

Strategic plans
Annual reports
Protected loans

Australian Museum Archival images 200 Treasures

The Australian Museum’s statement of reflection

Cultural institutions have a responsibility to critically reflect on history and how it influences the present.

By Nathan mudyi Sentance

Policies and Reports

Review the Australian Museum's policies, plans and publications.

Future plans

As part of a $40M Blockbuster Funding agreement created by the NSW Government, the Australian Museum will be able to host and tour major exhibitions over the next four years including: Ramses The Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs and SHARKS.

Visit the Australian Museum in Sydney

Visit Australia’s first museum in the heart of Sydney to discover Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, our collection of Australian dinosaurs, and the deadliest of down under animals. See you at the Australian Museum.