Canberra

Canberra Galleries and Museums

Canberra’s galleries and museums bring national stories into close focus: a bark painting beside a contemporary portrait, a hand-written diary alongside an aircraft, or a household collection preserved in an 1850s cottage. Across Kamberri/Canberra, visitors can encounter art, science, audiovisual memory, military history, First Nations cultures and the everyday life of the region.

The city’s cultural landscape also reaches beyond its major institutions. Working studios, historic rural properties and research collections offer different ways to look closely, listen carefully and ask how objects acquire meaning. The following selection covers central Canberra and nearby Tharwa, Symonston and Kingston.

🎨 Art Galleries and Exhibition Spaces

National Gallery of Australia

In Parkes, the National Gallery of Australia holds a national collection comprising more than 155,000 works. Its strengths include the world’s largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, alongside significant modern art from Europe, America, Asia and the Pacific. The National Sculpture Garden extends the experience outdoors, while collection tours offer another way to explore the works and their contexts. The Gallery acknowledges the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples as Traditional Custodians of the Kamberri/Canberra region.

Parkes Place, Parkes, Kamberri/Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
☎ +61 2 6240 6411 — Visitor assistance

National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery explores the people and artists who have shaped Australian national identity. Its searchable collection spans painting, photography, sculpture, drawing, textiles, digital and video work, with portraits of people from science, sport, government, the arts and community life. Changing selections from the collection sit alongside exhibitions and creative activities, making portraiture a doorway into the many ways Australians have represented public and personal lives.

King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600
☎ +61 2 6102 7000 — General enquiries

Canberra Glassworks

Canberra Glassworks combines contemporary glass exhibitions with working studios in the industrial setting of the Kingston Powerhouse. Visitors may see artists at work in the Hotshop, explore the building and exhibitions through self-guided or guided experiences, and take part in hands-on glassmaking. Its focus is contemporary glass art, presented within the Kingston Arts Precinct on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country.

11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston ACT 2604
☎ +61 2 6260 7005 — Enquiries

🏺 History, Heritage and Community Collections

National Museum of Australia

The National Museum of Australia’s National Historical Collection comprises 250,000 objects representing Australian history and cultural heritage. Its collecting themes include First Nations history and culture, history and society since European settlement, and environmental history. Bark paintings, historical vehicles, convict tokens and Aboriginal breastplates are among the collection highlights. Objects not on display may be requested for viewing in advance, subject to appointment access.

Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, Canberra ACT 2601
☎ 1800 026 132 — General enquiries and feedback (freecall)
☎ +61 2 6208 5000 — General enquiries and feedback
☎ +61 2 6208 5021 — Schools and groups bookings

Lanyon Homestead

South of Canberra at Tharwa, Lanyon Homestead is a house museum within a working rural property. The 1859 homestead, gardens, dairy, workers’ quarters, stables, storerooms and small gaol help interpret pastoral life and the people who lived and worked there. Guided tours of the homestead are included with admission, with group tours and primary-school learning programs also available.

Tharwa Drive, Tharwa
☎ 02 6237 6500 — Group-tour enquiries

Mugga-Mugga Cottage

Mugga-Mugga Cottage is an 1850s stone cottage preserving the domestic collection of the Curley family, who lived there from 1913 to the 1980s. The property began as a shepherd’s outpost of the Duntroon estate and retains its pastoral setting, offering a close view of Canberra life after Federation. Entry is by guided tour to help conserve the interiors and collection. The cottage is currently closed for conservation works.

129 Narrabundah Lane, Symonston
☎ 02 6237 6500 — Museum enquiries and bookings

Canberra Museum and Gallery

Canberra Museum and Gallery brings together the region’s social history and visual arts in the city centre. Its collection includes visual art, craft and objects connected with Canberra, while the gallery also manages the Nolan Collection on behalf of the Australian Government. Changing exhibitions, community programs and collection-based displays provide ways to trace the city’s cultural development and the creative lives connected with it.

Cnr London Circuit and Civic Square, Canberra City
☎ (02) 6207 3968 — General contact

📜 Cultural Collections and Archives

AIATSIS

AIATSIS holds more than one million items relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories. The collection includes books, audio, photographs, manuscripts, moving image, art and objects. At Maraga on Acton Peninsula, visitors can enter the foyer and exhibition space, search the collection and use the Stanner Reading Room. Collection research visits must be booked at least two weeks in advance.

51 Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, Acton ACT 2601

National Library of Australia – Treasures Gallery

The Treasures Gallery presents highlights from the National Library’s physical and digital collections in a permanent display. Maps, books, manuscripts, photographs, paintings and ephemera show the breadth of documentary material about Australia and Australian people. Rare books, historic and contemporary photographs, tactile material and records from the Australian Web Archive reveal how national memory can be held in both fragile physical objects and digital records. Labels are designed for children as well as adults.

Parkes Place, Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
☎ +61 2 6262 1111 — General enquiries

🚂 Specialist Museums and Science Experiences

Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial combines museum, shrine and archive to interpret Australia’s military history and continuing stories of service and sacrifice. Its permanent galleries display more than 7,000 objects, including artworks, uniforms, medals, letters, diaries, aircraft and other large technology. Visitors can explore galleries covering the world wars, Cold War conflicts, peacekeeping and more recent operations, with guided and self-guided tours available.

Fairbairn Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

The National Film and Sound Archive preserves and shares Australia’s national audiovisual collection. Its Canberra headquarters presents changing displays and experiences, while its cinema and events extend the encounter with film, television, radio, sound and recorded media. The Art Deco building provides a distinctive setting for considering how screen and sound records shape public memory.

1 McCoy Circuit, Acton ACT 2601
☎ +61 2 6248 2000 — General enquiries
☎ 1800 067 274 — General enquiries within Australia

Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre

Questacon offers hands-on science experiences and public learning in Canberra on Ngunawal Country. Interactive displays and demonstrations make scientific ideas tangible, while outreach and travelling-exhibition work extend its learning role beyond the centre. Its location in the Parliamentary Triangle places experiments, questions and technological discovery alongside Canberra’s other major cultural institutions.

King Edward Terrace, Canberra ACT 2600
☎ 02 6270 2800 — General enquiries

These places invite repeated visits: a collection can look different when approached through an artwork, a family story, a scientific question or a record of place. Local galleries, museums, historical societies and cultural organisations are welcome to add or update their listing in this directory, helping readers discover more of Canberra’s shared collections and creative spaces.

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