What is Melbourne Museum?
Melbourne Museum is a natural and social history museum in Carlton Gardens, next to the Royal Exhibition Building. Opened in 2000, it is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere by floor area.
The museum is run by Museums Victoria. Its galleries explore science, the environment, Aboriginal cultures, Melbourne's history and the human body.
Highlights include the Forest Gallery, a living indoor forest with birds, reptiles and fish, and dinosaur skeletons in the Dinosaur Walk. The preserved hide of the racehorse Phar Lap is one of the museum's most popular exhibits.
Bunjilaka and more
Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre tells the stories of Aboriginal people of Victoria, with a focus on the Kulin nations. The First Peoples exhibition was developed with Aboriginal communities.
The museum also includes an IMAX cinema, a children's gallery and a large shop. Its modern building, designed by Denton Corker Marshall, features a huge sloping roof blade.
Museums Victoria also runs Scienceworks, the Immigration Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building. Entry to Melbourne Museum is free for children.
Did You Know?
Museums Victoria's collections hold millions of specimens and objects, many of them stored behind the scenes for research.