Research and scholarship are central to the National Museum of Australia's collection, exhibitions, publications and other activities. This research includes Australian history, care of its collection and museological areas including audience, evaluation and outreach. The establishment of the Research Centre has consolidated the study of Australian history and museum issues.
Research Centre

The National Museum of Australia's Research Centre fosters new thinking about Australian history and the Australian historical experience.
More information on the Research Centre
Conferences and seminars

Recent programs
'The Compleat Archaeologist': Mike Smith, desert archaeology and museums
Friday 8 Februrary 2013
View videos and comments
View video of Mike Smith's lecture 'The Lost Art of Stratigraphy'
Past programs
The Library
The Library of the National Museum of Australia was established in 1984 and has grown into a collection of more than 45,000 books, serials and audiovisual items.
Student prize winners announced
Christina Dyson, PhD candidate in the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, has been awarded the 2013 Mike Smith Prize. Alessandro Antonello and Sonya Duus, both from the Australian National University, were jointly awarded the 2013 runner-up prize.
For more details see Prizes and awards
Online publications
reCollections: a journal of museums and collections is an independent, peer-reviewed journal. It focuses on two main areas: museology and museum practice; and the history and interpretation of objects and the social and environmental history of material culture.
Staff presentations and papers
The staff at the Museum regularly give talks and present papers to the public. Staff presentations and papers provides links to articles by staff members published online in:
- reCollections journal
- Friends magazine
- Understanding Museums: Australian museums and museology and
- audio on demand (with transcripts)
