The secrets to survival in the world’s most dangerous continent revealed at the Australian Museum

Sydney, Friday, 12 December 2025: Surviving Australia, a brand-new, free permanent exhibition at the Australian Museum (AM) offers visitors more extreme, immersive and time-expanding perspectives of Australia.

Opening in time for the school holidays, Surviving Australia is filled with fossils, life-sized megafauna, and tactile displays taking visitors on a journey into our ancient past, where giant wombats roamed and fanged kangaroos stalked prey. Surviving Australia also explores the present, where urbanisation and climate change impacts species’ survival.

NSW Minister for the Arts, the Hon John Graham, said the new exhibition provided important context to Australia’s place in the world, and with free entry, would be available all visitors to the AM.

“This vibrant and immersive new exhibition demonstrates the critical role public institutions play, not only for the cultural economy, but also in supporting education and the tourism sectors. Surviving Australia showcases world-class expertise, First Nations knowledge, palaeobiology, geology, marine biology, and taxidermy alongside a sustainable exhibition design. It also delivers the kind of authentic, engaging and research-backed experience that will attract visitors from across Australia and around the world," Minister Graham said.

Australia’s iconic wildlife, from sharks and spiders to kangaroos and cassowaries, takes centre stage in Surviving Australia, with custom made, true-to-life-sized models of the curious megafauna, including the huge wombat-shaped Diprotodon.

Australian Museum Director and CEO, Kim McKay AO, said the new permanent exhibition would transform visitors’ understanding of and appreciation for the story of Australia.

“Within the stunning 600sqm space, visitors can explore expansive deserts, deep oceans, lush rainforests and alpine plains. Surviving Australia celebrates the vast and fascinating biodiversity which can only be found on this continent. This extraordinary exhibition even reveals new information about Australia’s ancient past, including that kangaroos once walked instead of hopped!

“The new exhibition also focuses on the future, clearly showing that as climate change and human impact reshape the rules of survival, understanding the past is essential to protecting the future,” Kim McKay said.

The Australian Museum’s newest permanent exhibition, Surviving Australia opens on Monday 15 December, and is free for all visitors to the Australian Museum.

For media inquiries, contact Clare Patience, 0408 846 224 or email media@australian.museum.

About the Australian Museum

The Australian Museum (AM) was founded in 1827 and is the nation’s first museum. It is internationally recognised as a natural science and culture institution focused on Australia and the Pacific. The AM’s mission is to ignite wonder, inspire debate and drive change. The AM’s vision is to be a leading voice for the richness of life, the Earth and culture in Australia and the Pacific. The AM commits to transforming the conversation around climate change, the environment and wildlife conservation; to being a strong advocate for First Nations cultures; and to continuing to develop world-leading science, collections, exhibitions and education programs. With 22 million objects and specimens and the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI), the AM is not only a dynamic source of reliable scientific information on some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges facing our region, but also an important site of cultural exchange and learning.