History

The National Museum of Australia opened on 11 March 2001 at Acton Peninsula in Canberra, to coincide with Australia's Centenary of Federation.

Although one of Australia's newest cultural institutions, it has been almost 100 years in the making. Over the course of the twentieth century, proposals for a national museum were intermittent, interrupted by wars and financial crises and stifled by government inaction.

A national inquiry in 1975 (the 'Pigott Report') finally resulted in the Museum's birth in 1980 with the passing of National Museum of Australia Act.

Collecting officially began for what would become the National Historical Collection and collections were inherited from Federal Government collections and Canberra's former Australian Institute of Anatomy. A location was found at Yarramundi Reach.

In 1988 the Federal Government decided to defer the construction of the Museum. In response an enthusiastic group of supporters formed the Friends of the National Museum of Australia, whose major role became to lobby the Government to proceed with the building of the Museum.

In December 1996 the announcement was made that the Museum would be built as the key Centenary of Federation project and Acton Peninsula was chosen as the site. In 1997 funding was approved and an international design competition launched for the building of the Museum.

The winning design caused much discussion and debate. Far from a vision for a traditional museum, the post-modern design reflected the diverse nature of the Museum's collection. In November 2001 the Museum was awarded the prestigious international honour of the Blueprint Architecture Award for the Best New Public Building of the Year.

The Museum has won the Australian Tourism Awards as Best Major Tourism Attraction on two occasions, 2005 and 2007.