National Museum of Australia

National Museum of Australia Where our stories come alive. On Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri Country. The National Museum of Australia is where our stories come alive.
(1901)

We love using social media to share these stories with the world, and engage with diverse audiences. Please be aware that the Museum’s social media channels may include or use names, images and voices of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Public transport: https://www.transport.act.gov.au/

* Social media community standards *

We aim to keep our social media channels relevant

, engaging and inclusive. We’d like to keep this a pleasant space for everyone, and ask that you are respectful to other members of this community and keep discussions on topic. You are expected to uphold the Museum’s social media community standards, and our moderators apply these standards when monitoring our accounts. We will remove content that is abusive, obscene, discriminatory, disrespectful, inflammatory or offensive. We will remove content that is off-topic, spam or is repetitive posting. We will remove misinformation or misleading information. We will also remove content that is defamatory, breaches copyright, confidentiality and/or moral rights laws. Please notify us if you see something that you feel breaches Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and/or our community standards. Whilst we strive for accuracy, we are human and sometimes make mistakes. If we’ve got something wrong, kindly let us know – we’ll fact-check our content as quickly as possible and correct any errors. You can view our community standards in detail here: bit.ly/34KDEKN

* Queries and account moderation *

This page is monitored and moderated weekdays from 8:30am – 5:30pm (Australian Eastern Daylight Time). During these hours, we aim to respond to relevant queries as quickly as possible and moderate content that does not meet our community standards. Outside of standard moderation hours, responses may take some time. Please free call 1800 026 132 for queries about weekend visits, or refer to our website at www.nma.gov.au. Queries submitted outside of standard operating hours will be reviewed and responded to as quickly as possible during standard business hours. If you have a query about:
- educational research
- our collection
- donating an object to our collection

please email our Duty Curator at [email protected]

Kinda chic to visit our 'Antarctica' exhibition ✨ Whether you want to experience immersive projections of the aurora aus...
01/09/2026

Kinda chic to visit our 'Antarctica' exhibition ✨

Whether you want to experience immersive projections of the aurora australis, send coded messages with our WYSSA interactive, or see how you measure up against emperor penguins, there's a fun activity for everyone.

Book your free ticket: https://www.nma.gov.au/antarctica

Winter is officially over, which means the sun is out and the flowers are blooming 🌷 Before modern sun protection, paras...
31/08/2026

Winter is officially over, which means the sun is out and the flowers are blooming 🌷

Before modern sun protection, parasols (light-weight umbrellas) were a popular way to find shade on sunny days.

Parasols appear in our collection a few times, including in these photographs and we have a gorgeous parasol that belonged to the Faithfull family, who lived at Springfield station, south of Goulburn.

How are you staying sun safe this spring?

📷 1) Postcard featuring Miss Zena Dare
📷 2) Photograph of two women wearing swimsuits and sitting on the beach under a parasol

Today marks 63 years since the second of two bark petitions was tabled in parliament.  In February 1963, the Yolngu beca...
31/08/2026

Today marks 63 years since the second of two bark petitions was tabled in parliament.

In February 1963, the Yolngu became aware that the Federal Government had approved plans for the mining and processing of bauxite in north-east Arnhem Land.

The Yirrkala bark petitions (Näku Dhäruk) were the Yolngu’s formal response that sought to have their rights to Yolngu and Arnhem Land recognised.

It was the first time documents that incorporated First Nations ways of representing relationships to land were recognised by parliament.

The petitions led to a Select Committee to investigate Yolngu grievances but did not halt mining. While subsequent legal action by the Yolngu was unsuccessful, their actions resulted in the first land rights legislation in Australia, the 'Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'.

📷: Northern Lands Council (NLC) Chairman Silas Roberts (left) and Gumatj leader and NLC Manager, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, viewing the petitions during a visit to Canberra. Image courtesy AIATSIS and Yirrkala community, item AIAS.031. BW-N00254_08

Can you identify this iconic Australian?  You have four clues to place your guess before we reveal the answer 🕵️ Let us ...
29/08/2026

Can you identify this iconic Australian?

You have four clues to place your guess before we reveal the answer 🕵️

Let us know how many clues it took!

📷 1) National Archives of Australia - A1200, L50693
📷 2) National Archives of Australia: A6135, K27/1/72/13

28/08/2026

It can’t always be LA! ✨ but Apricot thinks it’s pretty cool here!

Did you know we’re part of Find Floyd’s Family?

One of Floyd’s 39 gnomes, Apricot, is hiding at the Museum. 🤫

Follow the clues at the website and come and track him down.

Happy hunting!

Listen, this might look like an object from a few Fridays ago, but we promise it's completely different! This   performs...
28/08/2026

Listen, this might look like an object from a few Fridays ago, but we promise it's completely different!

This performs a specific function.

Can you guess what it is? 🕵️

Answer coming on Monday!

27/08/2026

Have you seen the first snowmobile Australians used in Antarctica? 🛷

Today, Dr Jono Lineen talks us through the impact the Polaris Sno-Traveller had on Antarctic expeditions.

Two models were shipped to Antarctica in the 1950s and they marked the beginning of a shift away from using sled dog teams for shorter trips. ‍

See it in person at our free 'Antarctica' exhibition!

Book tickets now: https://www.nma.gov.au/antarctica

25/08/2026

Have you heard the term ‘small world play’?

It’s one of our Mini Makers activities at the Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre.

Our Discovery Centre is Australia’s only history themed play space.

All our play activities are developed using evidence-based early learning concepts.

🎟️ - $10 per child & $5 per adult
📆- Daily sessions from 9:15 - 3:30
📍- National Museum of Australia

For more visit Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre: https://www.nma.gov.au/whats-on/fairfax-discovery-centre

This is a coolamon made by the Pintupi people to carry babies. Coolamons are vessels with many uses, from carrying water...
25/08/2026

This is a coolamon made by the Pintupi people to carry babies.

Coolamons are vessels with many uses, from carrying water, food and seeds, to processing grains and cradling babies.

This coolamon was carved from native bean wood in Papunya, Northern Territory, in 1961.

Did you know Antarctica wasn't always frozen? 🤯 This fossil is of a small, toothless dolphin-like creature from 4+ milli...
24/08/2026

Did you know Antarctica wasn't always frozen? 🤯

This fossil is of a small, toothless dolphin-like creature from 4+ million years ago and was found in Vestfold Hills, Antarctica.

Dating from the Pliocene Epoch, the now-extinct animal evolved after Antarctica had separated from Australia but was not yet icebound.

Temperatures were higher, fresh water flowed and parts of Antarctica were covered in forest. 🌳

Discover more of Antarctica's history: https://www.nma.gov.au/antarctica

Address

Lawson Crescent, Acton
Canberra, ACT
2601

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+61262085000

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