Melbourne

Melbourne Galleries and Museums

Melbourne’s museums and galleries open doors onto many kinds of discovery: international art, screen culture, scientific ideas, migration stories, modern craft and the everyday histories of its suburbs. The city centre provides several major collections, while Parkville, Carlton, St Kilda, Bulleen, Spotswood and Maribyrnong add distinctive reasons to explore beyond the central grid. Together, these places connect objects and artworks with the people, technologies, landscapes and communities that have shaped Victoria.

Some venues invite hands-on participation; others reward a slower look at photographs, letters, paintings, textiles or domestic objects. The selection below includes major institutions and smaller, community-rooted organisations, with practical location and contact details where published.

🎨 Art Galleries and Exhibition Spaces

NGV International

On St Kilda Road, NGV International presents the National Gallery of Victoria’s international art and design collection, spanning Europe, Asia, America and Oceania. Collection displays include painting, design and art from the Pacific, while collection-focused tours and visitor maps help people navigate the building. Special exhibitions may be separately ticketed, so the gallery offers both a broad collection experience and changing opportunities for closer study.

180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne. ☎ +61 3 8620 2242 — NGV design store.

Potter Museum of Art

The University of Melbourne’s public art museum in Parkville presents the University of Melbourne Art Collection through changing exhibitions and collection-based learning. Its art-focused education and group visits make the gallery a useful place to encounter works in an academic setting, while its campus location connects it with the university’s wider cultural collections. Admission is free, providing an approachable setting for exploring art and ideas.

The Potter Museum of Art, The University of Melbourne, Corner Swanston Street and Masson Road, Parkville, Victoria 3010.

Craft Victoria

Craft Victoria’s contemporary craft and design exhibitions bring together Australian makers, artists and designers. Across its gallery spaces, visitors can consider material skill, inventive techniques and contemporary ideas, including work shown through the member-focused Vitrine Gallery. Groups may book curatorial tours to discuss the programme, making the Watson Place venue a focused way to encounter contemporary Australian craft and design.

Watson Place, off Flinders Lane, Naarm/Melbourne VIC 3000. ☎ 03 9650 7775.

Heide Museum of Modern Art

At Bulleen, Heide Museum of Modern Art combines a dedicated Heide Collection with changing exhibitions and learning activity. The museum’s visitor programme includes public learning services and membership, while its collection team handles collection matters. The site also acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as Traditional Owners of the land and waters where it is located, adding an important local cultural context to a visit centred on modern art.

7 Templestowe Road, Bulleen VIC 3105. ☎ 03 9850 1500.

📜 Local History, Community and Cultural Museums

Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West

This community museum documents, preserves and interprets the social, industrial and environmental history of Melbourne’s western suburbs. Its digital library and research resources reflect an ecomuseum approach, keeping local experience at the centre of its work. The museum is temporarily located at Maribyrnong Library, with Thursday access and Friday visits by appointment. Membership, research enquiries and art residency enquiries provide additional ways to engage with its ongoing work.

Maribyrnong Library, 120 Rosamond Road, Maribyrnong VIC 3032. ☎ 0494 596 771.

Jewish Museum of Australia

The Jewish Museum of Australia in St Kilda cares for more than 20,000 items documenting the Australian Jewish experience. Judaica, fine art, photography, textiles, letters, diaries, books and everyday objects illuminate belief and ritual, migration, community, culture, identity and Australian Jewish life. Permanent and changing displays are complemented by an online collection, allowing visitors to explore both material objects and the stories attached to them.

26 Alma Road, St Kilda VIC 3182. ☎ +61 3 8534 3600.

Immigration Museum

Housed in Melbourne’s Old Customs House beside the Birrarung, the Immigration Museum shares stories of migration, cultural diversity, identity and belonging. Its Migration and Cultural Diversity Collection comprises more than 6,000 items, including personal, domestic and work-related objects, documents and community collections that illuminate Victorian migration experiences since the 1830s. Guided highlights tours and school visits offer additional ways to connect individual stories with broader histories.

400 Flinders Street, Melbourne. ☎ 13 11 02 — bookings and general enquiries.

Old Treasury Building

The Old Treasury Building is a museum of Melbourne and Victorian history in a nineteenth-century building on Spring Street. Its displays explore the city’s growth, public protest, the Yarra River and family life in the building, while restored gold vaults recall the gold-rush era. Online exhibitions extend the museum’s interpretation, and guided and school tours are available by appointment.

20 Spring Street, Melbourne 3000. ☎ 03 9651 2233.

🔬 Science, Screen Culture and Specialist Collections

Melbourne Museum

Opposite the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens, Melbourne Museum offers exhibitions across three levels alongside access to Museums Victoria’s collection and research expertise. Suggested itineraries and maps support different ways of exploring the museum, while school education visits extend its learning role. Temporary exhibitions and special events may carry additional charges, making the permanent museum experience distinct from separately presented programmes.

11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053. ☎ 13 11 02 — bookings and general enquiries.

Scienceworks

Scienceworks in Spotswood combines hands-on science experiences with the Melbourne Planetarium, science shows, workshops and collection displays. Sportsworks explores movement and sporting performance through physical challenges, while collection highlights include the CSIRAC computer, cameras, transport models and technology. Schools can book curriculum-aligned workshops, shows and planetarium sessions, giving the museum a strong connection between scientific ideas, objects and active learning.

Spotswood, Victoria. ☎ 13 11 02 — bookings and general enquiries.

ACMI

At Fed Square, ACMI is Australia’s national museum of screen culture. Its centrepiece exhibition, The Story of the Moving Image, invites visitors to explore film, television, videogames and digital culture through interactive displays that encourage doing as well as watching. Cinemas, studios and labs add further dimensions to the museum, with some exhibitions and events ticketed separately.

Fed Square, Melbourne/Naarm, Australia.

These venues offer many ways to spend time with Melbourne’s stories, from a single artwork or family object to a planetarium session, community archive or interactive screen experience. Galleries, museums, historical societies and cultural organisations with a Melbourne connection are welcome to add or update their listing in this directory, helping readers find more of the collections and local knowledge held across the city.

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