Melbourne, Australia, is home to a large number of cultural institutions, museums and historic sites, some of which are known worldwide:
To use the sortable table, click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.
Name | Type | Summary | ANZ Banking Museum | Numismatic | website, banknotes and coins, moneyboxes, office machines, firearms, gold-mining equipment and uniforms |
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art | Art | Contemporary art gallery |
Australian Centre for the Moving Image | Media | Film, television, digital media |
Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives | History | Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex materials, including archive, library, museum and gallery items |
Australian National Aviation Museum | Aviation | Australia's aviation heritage |
Australian Racing Museum | Sports | Horse racing, part of the National Sports Museum |
Australian Railway Historical Society Museum | Transportation | Steam, electric and diesel locomotives, carriages, signalling and other historic railway equipment and artefacts |
Backwoods Gallery | Art | Urban Contemporary, Street Art |
Centre for Contemporary Photography | Art | Contemporary photo-based arts |
Chinese Museum, Melbourne | Ethnic | Heritage and culture of Australia's Chinese community |
City Gallery, Melbourne | Art | website, exhibits from the city's art and history collections |
Cooks' Cottage | Historic house | Mid 18th century cottage of Captain James Cook's parents in England that was transported to Melbourne |
Dax Centre | Art | website, promotes mental health and wellbeing by fostering a greater understanding of the mind, mental illness and trauma through art and creativity |
Fairhall (House Museum) | Art | Georgian townhouse that houses The Johnston Collection of fine and decorative art |
Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery | Art | [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410004033/http://ibcv.org.au/FGY_Artgallery/FGY_intro.htm website], traditional and contemporary concepts of Eastern philosophy through painting, sculptures, calligraphy, embroidery, pottery, decorative arts and antiques |
Grainger Museum | Biographical | Documents the life, career and music of composer and pianist Percy Grainger |
Hellenic Museum, Melbourne | Ethnic | Cultural traditions of ancient and contemporary Greece |
Ian Potter Centre | Art | Houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, includes paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles |
Ian Potter Museum of Art | Art | Part of the University of Melbourne, includes Australian art in all media from the early nineteenth century to the present, European art, International indigenous art, classics and archaeology |
Immigration Museum, Melbourne | History | Operated by Museum Victoria, history of immigration in Australia |
Islamic Museum of Australia | Ethnic | Islamic art and culture |
Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre | Holocaust |
Jewish Museum of Australia | Jewish | Only Jewish community museum in Australia |
The Johnston Collection | Art | Located in Fairhall, includes Georgian, Regency and Louis XV furniture, 18th and 19th century porcelain, and paintings from the 16th - 19th centuries |
Koorie Heritage Trust | Ethnic | website, Koorie art, culture and heritage |
La Trobe's Cottage | Historic house | Original mid 19th century home of Victoria's first Lt. Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe, operated by the National Trust of Australia |
Living Museum of the West | Ecomuseum | Documents social history of Melbourne's western suburbs |
Mary Glowrey Museum | Biographical | website Documents the life and legacy of Melbourne doctor and medical missionary Mary Glowrey |
Melbourne Maritime Museum | Maritime | Includes the museum ship Polly Woodside, 3-masted 19th century barque. Operated by the National Trust of Australia |
Melbourne Museum | Multiple | Largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, operated by Museum Victoria, exhibits include natural history, science, art, culture |
Melbourne Museum of Printing | Industrial | [https://www.mmop.org.au website], Working and teaching museum of typography and printing |
National Gallery of Victoria | Art | Includes the Ian Potter Centre, encompasses Indigenous (Australian Aboriginal) art, Australian colonial painting, Australian Impressionist painting, 20th century, modern and contemporary Australian art |
National Steam Centre | Engineering | website Operated by Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club Inc, working examples of mechanical heritage |
National Sports Museum | Sports | Includes the Australian Racing Museum, Australian rules football, cricket, Olympic Games, tennis, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, basketball, boxing and netball |
Old Melbourne Gaol | Prison | History of the 19th century prison used until 1924 |
Old Treasury Building, Melbourne | History | Museum of Melbourne history from the 1830s, |
Portable Iron Houses | Historic house | website, operated by the National Trust of Australia, prefabricated iron buildings from the gold rush era |
RAAF Museum | Aviation | Military aircraft, official museum of the Royal Australian Air Force |
Salvation Army Heritage Centre | History, cinema | website, Operated by the Salvation Army, includes original Limelight Department film studio |
Scienceworks | Science | Operated by Museum Victoria, hands-on science exhibits |
Shot Tower Museum | Military | Located in Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, shows the production of shot balls by freefall of molten lead |
TAA Museum | Aviation | website, Operated by TAA Australian Airlines 25 year club volunteers, exhibits of Trans Australia Airlines history |
Victoria Police Museum | Law enforcement | website, social history of policing and crime in Victoria including uniforms, equipment, weapons |
Victorian Telecommunications Museum | Technology | Telephones and telecommunications equipment |
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