WA Museum Boola Bardip

The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the Museum Act 1969. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, now known as WA Museum Boola Bardip, officially opened on 21 November 2020 in the Perth Cultural Centre. The other sites are: the WA Maritime Museum and WA Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle, the Museum of the Great Southern in Albany, the Museum of Geraldton in Geraldton, and the Museum of the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

History

Established in 1891 in the Old Perth Gaol, it was known as the Geological Museum and consisted of geological collections. In 1892, ethnological and biological exhibits were added, and in 1897, the museum officially became the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery. The museum employed collectors to obtain series of specimens; J. T. Tunney ventured across the state from 1895 to 1909 obtaining animals and, later, the tools and artefacts of the indigenous inhabitants.

During 1959, the botanical collection was transferred to the new Western Australian Herbarium and the museum and the art gallery became separate institutions. The museum focussed its collecting and research interests in the areas of natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, and Western Australia's history. Over the 1960s and 1970s, it also began to work in the then-emerging areas of historic shipwrecks and Aboriginal site management.

In February 2008, the Government of Western Australia announced that it would build a new A$500-million museum at the East Perth Power Station site. However, following the election of a new State Liberal party government under Colin Barnett, the redevelopment plans were scrapped in early February 2009.

On Museums day in 2012, the Barnett State Government pledged to build a new museum at the Perth Cultural Centre at a cost of $428 million, for completion by 2019–20. The Western Australian Museum — Perth site has closed temporarily from 18 June 2016 until 2020 to construct the New Museum for WA, designed by OMA and Hassell.

In late 2014, critical improvements to the Museum's Collection and Research Centre (CRC) in Welshpool commenced. This site continues to house the Museum's research laboratories and working collections throughout the construction phase. The upgrades to the CRC include new collection storage, laboratories, and workshops to support ongoing research and to ensure that collections can be adequately prepared and conserved.

Address: Perth Cultural Centre, Perth WA 6000, Australia
Hours: Closed ⋅ Opens 9AM Thu
Phone: +61 1300 134 081