WA Museum

The Western Australian Museum first opened in 1891 and since then has made a major contribution to the collection, conservation and research of the State’s natural and social history, maritime heritage and the cultural heritage of Indigenous communities in Western Australia.

The Museum has eight sites throughout Western Australia.  These include:

• Western Australian Museum – Albany
• Western Australian Museum – Fremantle History
• Western Australian Museum – Geraldton
• Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder
• Western Australian Museum – Maritime
• Western Australian Museum – Perth
• Western Australian Museum – Shipwreck Galleries
• Western Australian Museum – Samson House

The Museum also houses more than four million items in its collections storage facilities in the Collection and Research Centre in Welshpool, Collection Store Willetton, A Shed Fremantle, Collection Store Albany, Collection Store Kalgoorlie.

The purpose of the Western Australian Museum is

• to collect, preserve, investigate, document and showcase the enormous wealth and diversity of this State’s fauna, geological and meteoritic resources, as well as its social and maritime history, in order to understand and value the past, enhance and attend to the present and respond to the challenges of the future
• to enrich Western Australia’s cultural life through a platform of sharing the unique stories of Western Australia’s people, land and sea and the State’s role in the region and the wider world
• to integrate strategic collection and research activities with exhibitions and public programs that are educational, experiential, exciting, entertaining and innovative
• to inspire discovery across diverse audiences, offering a forum to engage in debate and question issues that are important to, and impact on, society and the community

The Museum employs more than 200 staff and each department has staff with specialist, often internationally regarded expertise.

Western Australian Museum conservation and curatorial staff work in the departmental areas of Aquatic Zoology, Archaeology/ Anthropology, Conservation, Earth and Planetary Sciences, History, Maritime Archaeology, Maritime History, Terrestrial Invertebrates and Terrestrial Vertebrates.