Page title

Intro

Media release

Western Australian Museum night view. Photo by Peter Bennett.
  • ​Spectacular new WA Museum will open on 21 November
  • Nine-day opening festival expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors
  • $400 million new museum will be a significant cultural attraction that will help boost tourism and stimulate the economy
  • Free general admission for the first 18 months.

Ticket holders selected by ballot will be able to take preview tours of the museum and get a taste of the extraordinary stories and experiences on offer inside. There are eight new permanent galleries, a 1000 sqm temporary exhibition gallery, life-long learning studios, and retail and café spaces.

The $400 million redevelopment will be a significant cultural tourism attraction for WA.

Five of Perth's significant heritage buildings have been revitalised and integrated with an architecturally stunning new building, that is already being viewed as Perth's newest landmark destination.

Tickets to the opening festival will be made available on the Western Australian Museum's website later this year.

The new museum has been developed with a people first approach and features the voices of Western Australians, sharing their stories their own way.

It is a museum about WA — about our people, our places and our role in the world. It will be a gateway to WA, giving visitors a taste of everything this State has to offer.

WA's unique cultural and scientific collections will come alive with innovative new exhibitions featuring authentic objects and new interactive and multi-media experiences.

From the formation of the universe to the latest inventions, from dinosaurs to new species found nowhere else on the planet, the new Western Australian Museum will remind us that WA is a place of wonder.

Local favourites like the bison, ancient meteorites and the iconic blue whale also return in spectacular new displays.

More than 50,000 people around WA have contributed their thoughts to the development of the museum's exhibitions, programs and stories. Four community panels have also contributed their input over the past five years, focusing on access and inclusion, education, and children and young people.

One of the eight permanent galleries, Ngalang Koort Boodja Wirn, is dedicated to sharing traditional and contemporary Aboriginal culture, and history. However, the stories and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are woven throughout the museum, recognising the primary rights of Australia's first peoples in practicing and expressing their cultural heritage.

Designed by international architect consortium Hassell + OMA, and built by managing contractor Multiplex, the new Western Australian Museum will reopen on the same site it has occupied since it first began as a geological museum in the Old Perth Gaol, in 1891.

Media enquiries

Visit the media hub to contact the media team.

Media hub

Tags

Page reviewed 27 February 2023