Australian Museum

5pm – 9pm
Every Thursday night

Nights at the Museum

Why not visit us after dark?

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.

22 May - 10 October

School holidays

Ask why at the Australian Museum these school holidays.

Programs and events

Prehistoric Playground

An interactive stomping ground for dinosaur buffs.

Open daily
10am – 4.30pm

Every Tuesday 18 May - 22 June, 12:30pm

Lunchtime Conversation Series 2021: First Nations innovators and visionaries

Six illuminating talks exploring the stories and ground-breaking work of First Nations leaders across political, environmental and cultural fields.

Monday - Friday during term
Now taking bookings for 2021

School group visits

Information to assist teachers in planning for their education group excursion.

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

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
10am - 5pm

Permanent exhibition
Open daily 10am - 5pm

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!

What's on calendar
Getting here
Functions and venues

More visitor information

Discover the richness of life, the Earth and culture in Australia and the Pacific at Australia's first museum in Sydney.

Plan your visit

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

The Blue Mountains Tree Frog (Litoria citropa).

Smile for the Camera! Frog mug shots help track the health of frog populations

Can we identify individual frogs from photos of their body patterns? A recently published study has confirmed we can for the Blue Mountains Tree Frog!

15 June 2021

Diverse gastropods: assortment of Australian deep-sea ‘turrids’.

Snails in the abyss: New in-depth knowledge

From the deep seas of southern Australia, a previously unknown fauna has started to emerge. In recent publications, Australian Museum Research Associates Dr Anders Hallan and Dr Francesco Criscione name a plethora of venomous deep-sea snails.

10 June 2021

More from our blog

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

Science news
What's new at the Museum
Educational insights

Read our blog posts!

Crustacean research: New fauna of commensal mysids discovered in New South Wales

In the new study exploring the Australian Museum Marine Invertebrate collections, a series of seven species of mysids associated with other marine invertebrates have been discovered in the coastal waters of NSW. Two species are new to science and are named after Stephen Keable and Anna Murray!

8 June 2021

AMplify: Australian innovations for tackling climate change

Listen to Kim McKay AO, AM Director & CEO in conversation with Professor Tim Flannery about the brightest inventions and approaches to reducing emissions and caring for our environment.

AMplify Podcast
2 June 2021

Listen now

This month in Archaeology: Stone hatchets as nut-cracking tools

Why are there pits on ground stone hatchets? These are wood working tools, but could they have been used for cracking seeds and nuts as well? How to find out? Do experiments! For this month in archaeology, we discuss the recent experimental archaeology paper, led by Dr Nina Kononenko.

1 June 2021

Professor Kristofer Helgen and Dr Stephen Jackson at the AM.

Two new species of the world’s largest flying squirrels discovered in the Himalayas by Australian scientists

Australian scientists lead an international team that has described and named two new species of gigantic woolly flying squirrels from the Himalayas.

31 May 2021

Storyboat Installation from Unsettled exhibition

Unsettled: Uncovering our nation's hidden history

An exploration of one of the Australian Museum’s most significant shows in its almost 200-year history.

By Laura McBride and Dr Mariko Smith

How to judge a national science prize: inside the Eureka Prizes

Discover from an insider the process of judging the AM Eureka Prizes with Professor Bryan Gaensler

31 May 2021

Read now

Olm (Proteus anguinus) Specimen AMS R.187533.

The Curious Tale of the Australian Museum Olm

Just how did Europe’s only blind, cave-dwelling salamander turn up in Sydney?

28 May 2021

Primary school students go virtual to explore behind the scenes of Palaeontology

During their virtual journey students meet AM palaeontologists Dr Matt McCurry and Dr Patrick Smith, who both try to convince you to follow their preferred speciality – vertebrate versus invertebrate fossils!

26 May 2021

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

For teachers and students

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

Video conferences
Museum in a Box
Learning journeys

What are we doing?
What is climate change?

Climate change

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

Identify an animal
Cultural objects
Fossils and minerals

Object and species identification

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

Ask an expert!

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.

Competition dates
Judging criteria
Themes and resources

Students from Greenpoint Christian School participate in an Educator led session on Climate Change and Biodiversity.

IBM EdTech Youth Challenge

Join the IBM EdTech Youth Challenge and help impact what matters to you in our world.

The Mesozoic era
Dinosaur factsheets
Australian dinosaurs

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 of 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

Support the Australian Museum Foundation

The Australian Museum Foundation relies on your donation to help invest in the future of the Australian Museum.

Donate now

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 2021 Dates
School Science
Frequently Asked Questions

Membership packages
Museum discounts

Become a Member

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

Join and save today

Work at the Museum

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

Research
Exhibitions
Communication
Scholarships

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

Awards & Fellowships

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

Postgraduate Awards
Research
Fellowship

Cut down on waste
Worm farming

Sustainability at home

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

Museum mobile apps

From our citizen science to augmented reality games, treasure hunts and audio exhibition tours, discover our mobile apps.

Audio guide tours
Augmented reality games
Citizen science

Download free apps

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.

Media releases
Photography & filming
Media contact

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.

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

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

Museum collections

Why do we collect things? Discover the history and future of our millions of collection treasures and research areas.

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.

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

Artist's impression of expanded Crystal Hall entry

Future plans

The first phase of the Australian Museum’s transformation – known as Project Discover – is complete, and the Museum is now open.

Research and expeditions

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

Strategic plans
Annual reports
Protected loans

Policies and reports

Review the Australian Museum's policies and publications.

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.