National Museum of Australia

Last updated October 2026

Free national history museum on Acton Peninsula, Canberra, open daily 9am-5pm, with a $10 play space for children from birth to 6.

The National Museum of Australia is on Lawson Crescent, Acton Peninsula, beside Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. It is open daily from 9am to 5pm (closed Christmas Day) and general admission is free; exhibitions such as Great Southern Land and First Australians are free, while some exhibitions and events charge. For children from birth to 6, the Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre is a play and learn space with 75-minute sessions daily at 9.15am, 10.45am, 12.15pm, 2pm and 3.30pm; bookings are essential and entry is $10 per child, $5 per adult or $30 for a family, as of October 2026. Free 15-minute story times run Tuesday to Thursday at 10.30am during ACT school terms. The museum has baby change tables, lifts to all levels, pram parking spaces, quiet hours on the first Tuesday of the month and a cafe open 9am to 4.30pm. Parking is free on weekends.

Facts checked against the venue's own website on 17 October 2026.