16 places to discover
The Australian Workers Heritage Centre is a national museum in Barcaldine, Queensland, dedicated to telling the story of Australian working men and women. Located on Ash Street in the town centre, it commemorates Barcaldine's role in the 1891 shearers' strike and the history of the Australian labour movement. The centre features extensive indoor and outdoor exhibits, heritage buildings, and displays on trades, unions and rural working life.
The Bass Strait Maritime Centre is a maritime museum on the Mersey River waterfront at 6 Gloucester Avenue, Devonport, Tasmania. It interprets the maritime history of Bass Strait, including navigation, shipwrecks, trade, and the development of the Port of Devonport. Notable for interactive exhibits, ship models, historic vessels and artefacts, it overlooks the river and Spirit of Tasmania berth and serves as a key centre for northern Tasmania's seafaring heritage.
The Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre is a mining heritage museum in Beaconsfield in northern Tasmania's West Tamar region. Located on the site of the historic Beaconsfield Gold Mine, it preserves and interprets more than a century of gold mining history from 1877. The centre is notable for its preserved headframe, mine buildings, machinery and exhibits on the 2006 Beaconsfield mine rescue, displaying artefacts, photographs and equipment from Tasmania's gold mining era.
The Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre, now presented as the Bonegilla Migrant Experience, is a heritage site at Bonegilla near Wodonga in north-east Victoria. Operating from 1947 to 1971 in a former Army camp, it was Australia's largest and longest-running migrant reception centre, temporarily housing over 300,000 post-war migrants. Preserved huts, exhibitions and memorials interpret the migrant journey and settlement process.
Connor's Mill Museum is a restored 1870s steam-driven flour mill located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay, Western Australia, about 85 kilometres northeast of Perth. Built for businessman Daniel Connor and operated as a flour mill until the early 20th century, the three-storey brick building now houses a local history museum. It is notable for its intact milling machinery, heritage listing, and displays on Toodyay's agricultural and town history.
The Hinkler Hall of Aviation is an aviation museum located within the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens in Bundaberg North, Queensland. It commemorates Bert Hinkler, the Bundaberg-born pioneer aviator who completed the first solo flight from England to Australia in 1928. The museum houses full-scale replicas, original aircraft, interactive exhibits and archival displays documenting Hinkler's life, achievements and early aviation history in Australia.
The Launceston Tramway Museum is a heritage transport museum located in the Inveresk Precinct at Invermay Road, Launceston, Tasmania. It preserves and displays the history of Launceston's electric tramway system which operated from 1911 to 1952. The museum houses restored trams, original memorabilia, photographs and a working tramway offering short rides. Operated by volunteers of the Launceston Tramway Museum Society, it provides insight into the city's public transport heritage and engineering history.
Mannum Dock Museum is a heritage museum on the banks of the Murray River at Mannum in South Australia's Mid Murray region. Centred on the historic Randell Dry Dock built in 1876, it preserves the town's paddle-steamer era and river trade history. The museum displays the restored 1897 paddle steamer PS Marion, historic vessels, machinery, photographs and river artefacts, illustrating Mannum's role as the birthplace of Murray River navigation and inland port heritage.
The Maritime Museum of Townsville is a volunteer-run museum in South Townsville, Queensland, located on Palmer Street near Ross Creek. It preserves and displays the maritime heritage of Townsville, North Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. Notable for its collection of model ships, historic vessels, navigational instruments, photographs and the heritage-listed Bay Rock Lighthouse, it documents the Port of Townsville and regional seafaring history.
The Museum of Central Australia is a natural history museum located within the Araluen Cultural Precinct on Larapinta Drive in Alice Springs, Northern Territory. Operated by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), it interprets the geology, landscapes, flora, fauna and palaeontology of Central Australia. Notable for its extensive fossil, mineral and meteorite collections, the museum presents the region's 4.5-billion-year natural history and arid environment evolution.
The Museum of Tropical Queensland is the Townsville campus of the Queensland Museum network, located on Flinders Street in Townsville City. Opened in its current purpose-built premises in 2000, it interprets the natural and cultural heritage of tropical North Queensland. It is best known for the HMS Pandora gallery displaying artefacts from the 1791 wreck on the Great Barrier Reef, alongside exhibits on reefs, rainforests and regional history.
The National Anzac Centre is a war museum and interpretive centre located within Albany Heritage Park on Mount Clarence in Albany, Western Australia. Opened in 2014, it commemorates the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and Albany's role as the departure point for the first convoys of the First World War. The centre uses interactive displays, personal stories and artefacts to honour Anzac service.
The National Motor Museum at Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, is Australia's largest motor museum, located about 45 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Housed on the site of the historic Birdwood Mill, it displays more than 300 cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles spanning from the 1890s to modern times. Notable for its extensive Holden collection and its association with the Bay to Birdwood historic motoring event, it documents Australian motoring history and social heritage.
Newstead House is Brisbane's oldest surviving residence, located in Newstead Park on the Brisbane River in the suburb of Newstead, Brisbane, Queensland. Built in 1846 for pastoralist Patrick Leslie and later extended, the Georgian-style cottage is Queensland heritage-listed. Operated as a historic house museum, it displays period furnishings, colonial history exhibits and landscaped gardens, offering insight into early Brisbane settlement and 19th-century domestic life.
The Pioneer Settlement is an open-air museum on the Murray River at Horseshoe Bend in Swan Hill, north-west Victoria. Established in the 1960s, it recreates a 19th-century river port town using authentic relocated historic buildings, machinery and river craft. Notable for its paddle steamers including PS Pyap, horse-drawn transport, and the Heartbeat of the Murray laser light show, it illustrates Mallee settlement and Murray River trade history.
The Port of Echuca Discovery Centre is a heritage museum and visitor centre on the Murray River at Echuca, Victoria, within the Shire of Campaspe. Located at the historic Echuca Wharf, it interprets Australia's largest 19th-century inland port and Murray-Darling river trade. The centre features interactive exhibits, riverboat history, and access to the restored wharf and paddle steamers, illustrating the region's transport and timber and wool trade heritage.