Western Australian Museum

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 09 December 2008

Perth Cultural Centre
Perth
Phone: 9212 3700

Opening Hours: 9.30am - 5.00pm daily
Closed Good Friday, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Entry fee: by donation

Western Australian Museum

The Western Australian Museum is set in the heart of the Perth Cultural Precinct and is well worth a visit. It has an amazing range of collections to view covering archaeology, ecology and anthropology amongst many other interesting themes. The themes also change frequently to include visiting exhibits from other locations.

One permanent exhibit has an Australian bush setting complete with intricate fauna and flora displays and was moved amazingly piece by piece when the WA Museum relocated to its current premises.

Which building houses the WA Museum?

The WA Museum is housed in several buildings, a combination of old and new. The new building with the glass facade as featured in the photo above is the main entrance to the WA Museum. It is flanked by heritage buildings to its left and right. The imposing historic Jubilee Building on the corner of James and Beaufort Street as featured in the photo below was built in the late 1890's. Its conception appears to have been originally planned to coincide with the celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee of her 50 year reign in 1887. However, its completion was closer to the date of the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen's 60 year reign. It was also built to house the first combined Museum, Art Gallery and Library.

Been to Gaol recently?

The Old Gaol building houses the WA Museum Shop which is tucked behind the main building of the WA Museum. The Old Gaol used to hold convicts during colonial times. Today, it offers a great range of gifts including books on Australia and Western Australia's great outdoors, flora, fauna, culture and history. Adjoining the gift shop is a cafe which serves a nice range of menu items for lunch or a snack.

Jubilee building, WA Museum

How to get there:

By Train
Catch the train and stop at Perth train station. Take the escalators up to the upper concourse of the station (upper concourse heading to Forrest Chase). Turn left and walk for a short distance over the Roe Street pedestrian overpass. As you approach the Art Gallery building, you should see a mural promoting current exhibits at the Art Gallery. Walk past the Art Gallery and turn right after the water feature. You should be able to spot the main building of the WA Museum as featured in the photo above.

By Car
Nearest car parks are the State Library and the Cultural Centre City of Perth ones. Entrance to the State Library car park is via James Street or Francis Street. Entrance to the Cultural Centre car park is via Roe Street.

By CAT bus

The CAT buses are a handy way of travelling around the Perth CBD, Northbridge, East Perth and West Perth within the Free Transit Zone.

If travelling around Perth CBD, on the Red or Yellow CAT, stop off at the Forrest Chase stop (if heading west) or Perth Train Station (if heading east) on Wellington Street.

If travelling from Northbridge, catch the Blue CAT and stop off at the Museum stop (if heading away from the city along Beaufort St) or Alexander Library stop (if heading towards the city along William St).

Other Perth Walkabout articles

Public Transport

Art Gallery of Western Australia

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