Immigration Museum

The Immigration Museum is a museum of Museums Victoria located in the Old Customs House at 400 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria. It explores the history and experiences of immigration to Australia, particularly to Victoria. Housed in a restored 19th-century customs building on the Yarra River, it presents permanent and temporary exhibitions, personal stories, artefacts and community programs documenting cultural diversity and migration.

Visitors can expect to explore the restored Old Customs House with its grand Long Room and modern exhibition galleries. The museum presents permanent exhibitions on the history of immigration to Victoria, personal migration stories, artefacts, photographs and multimedia displays, plus rotating temporary exhibitions and community displays. Areas include the Discovery Centre for research, education spaces and a courtyard. The setting is central Melbourne on Flinders Street near the Yarra River.

Housed in the Old Customs House, built between 1858 and 1876 to administer immigration and customs during the Victorian gold rush and maritime trade era. The building served as the customs headquarters for the Port of Melbourne. Adapted and opened as the Immigration Museum in 1998 by Museums Victoria to document and preserve the history of immigration to Victoria and Australia.

The museum documents and celebrates the cultural diversity of Victoria shaped by waves of migration. It preserves personal migration stories, community heritage and contributions of migrants to Australian society through exhibitions, collections and community engagement programs.