Our Organisation
More than a leading Sydney attraction, the Australian Museum is a hub of information, resources and research. Learn more about Australia’s first museum.
Our Mission
To ignite wonder, inspire debate and drive change.
Our Vision Statement
To be a leading voice for the richness of life, the Earth and culture in Australia and the Pacific. We commit to transform the conversation around climate change, the environment and wildlife conservation; be a strong advocate for First Nations’ culture; and continue to develop world-leading science, collections, exhibitions and education programs.
The Australian Museum is a dynamic source of reliable scientific information and a touchstone for informed debate about some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges facing our region: the loss of biodiversity, a changing climate and the search for cultural identity.
Underpinning our research is an irreplaceable collection of international standing: over 22 million objects representing a timeline of the environmental and cultural histories of the Australian and Pacific regions.
Our collection holds many objects from Indigenous Australia and the Pacific, a record of human diversity and a living wellspring for regional cultural diversity.
It contains irreplaceable fossils, minerals, meteorites and gemstones that provide a geological perspective of the planet. It houses representative specimens of native Australian mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and countless invertebrates that tell many stories about our unique wildlife.
The Australian Museum Trust (ABN 854 072 246 98) trading as the Australian Museum is a not-for-profit organisation.
Learn more about the history of the AM, and how we continue to demonstrate modern day relevance and value in connecting people to science, culture and natural history in our news stories from the Australian Museum Blog.
Corporate Strategic Plan
Policies
Learn about our governance, services, legislation and policies.
The Australian Museum was established under the Australian Museum Trust Act 1975.
This Act constitutes the Australian Museum Trust as a corporation with the corporate name “Australian Museum Trust” (see Section 5) and defines its powers, authorities, duties and functions.
The Museum is principally funded by the New South Wales Government.
The objectives of the Australian Museum Trust Act are to propagate knowledge about the natural environment of Australia and to increase that knowledge, particularly in the natural sciences of biology, anthropology and geology.
Under the Act the Museum is governed by an 11 member Trust, appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the Minister. One member of the Trust must have knowledge of, or experience in, science, one must have knowledge of, or experience in, education, and one must have knowledge of, or experience in, Australian First Nations culture.
The following Australian Museum policy documents have been approved by the Museum's Executive:
Australian Museum Animal Care and Ethics Committee, Terms of Reference
Australian Museum Animal Care and Ethics Committee, Terms of Reference (TOR) 2021
Aboriginal Cultural Protocols for Public Events
Australian Museum Research Policy
Australian Museum Accessibility and Inclusion Action Plan 2018-2021
Natural Science Collection Development Strategy 2015-2018
Social media community guidelines
The Australian Museum is an approved borrowing institution under the PCOL Act.
To promote open, accountable, fair and effective government in NSW, members of the public have the right to access certain government information under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.
This right is restricted only when there is an overriding public interest against disclosing the particular information.
The Australian Museum is an NSW Government organisation operating under the Department of Enterprise, Investment and Trade (DEIT) . It supports and encourages the reuse of its publicly funded information, in line with the NSW Government’s Open Data Policy 2016.
This website contains information and media where copyright is held by the Australian Museum as well as other people or organisations. It also contains images that show indigenous cultural activities, cultural materials or people. This may be cultural content of First Nation communities within Australia, indigenous communities in the Pacific or indigenous communities around the world.
The Australian Museum also recognises the rights of indigenous communities to decide how their knowledge is communicated. Permission has been given to the Australian Museum to reproduce the indigenous oral stories, images and personal accounts on this website and for the associated licence to be applied.
You can refer to individual image captions for terms and conditions of use and copyright. We ask you to observe and follow any copyright or related information that may accompany the media on this site and retain that information if reproducing the material in any way. If copyright is owned by a person or organisation that is not the Australian Museum, you will need to seek permission from that person or organisation prior to using it.
The Australian Museum has made all reasonable efforts to locate the owners of copyright material in our information and media. Should anyone become aware that we have used material without permission, please contact us.
Our people
Our plans and achievements
Read about our corporate direction, key service strategies and Annual Reports published since 1853.
Make a difference
The Australian Museum needs your support to fund scientific research, to offer exceptional exhibitions and educational programs and to acquire significant objects for our collection.
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