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Australian Museum

"Colonial Museum" redirects here. For New Zealand's Colonial Museum, see Dominion Museum building.
This article is about the museum in Sydney. For the museum in Canberra, see National Museum of Australia.

Australian Museum
The William Street exterior and Crystal Hall entry to the Australian Museum in 2016
Former name
  • Colonial Museum;
  • Sydney Museum
Established1827 (1827)
Location1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia (Map)
Coordinates33°52′27″S 151°12′48″E / 33.8743°S 151.2134°E / -33.8743; 151.2134
TypeNatural history and anthropology
DirectorKim McKay AO
Public transit access
  • Museum (5 minute walk)
  • William St near College Cr
  • William St before College Cr
Websiteaustralian.museum
Building details
Map
General information
Architectural style
Construction started1846
Completed1857
Technical details
MaterialSydney sandstone
Design and construction
Architect(s)
Architecture firmNew South Wales Colonial Architect
Website
australian.museum
Official nameAustralian Museum
TypeState heritage (built)
Designated2 April 1999
Reference no.805
TypeOther – Education
CategoryEducation

The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,[1][2] and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology.[3] It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. Apart from exhibitions, the museum is also involved in Indigenous studies research and community programs. In the museum's early years, collecting was its main priority, and specimens were commonly traded with British and other European institutions. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of Gerard Krefft, himself a published scientist.[4]

The museum is located at the corner of William Street and College Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, and was originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. The museum was renamed in June 1836 by a sub-committee meeting, when it was resolved during an argument that it should be renamed the "Australian Museum".[5] The Australian Museum building and its collection was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.[6]

Its current CEO and Executive Director is Kim McKay AO.

  1. ^ "A Short History of the Australian Museum". Australian Museum. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. ^ Design 5, 2016, p.1
  3. ^ Meacham, Steve (27 November 2020). "Dinosaurs to the rescue as new life awakens for an old museum". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. ^ Finney, Vanessa (2023), Putting Nature in its Place: The Australian Museum, 1826 to 1890, Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney.
  5. ^ "Colonial Museum (1827–1834) / Australian Museum (1834– ), NSW Government State Records". Archived from the original on 24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Australian Museum". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00805. Retrieved 13 October 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.

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