Immigration Museum
Photo: Public Domain — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The Immigration Museum in Melbourne explores the stories of real people from all over the world who have migrated to Victoria.
Planning your visit
The Immigration Museum occupies the former Customs House on Melbourne's Flinders Street, the building where arriving migrants were processed — which gives the subject its physical setting.
Australia's population is among the most migrant-shaped in the world, and Victoria received successive waves: the gold rush that brought Chinese and Europeans in the 1850s, postwar displaced persons from Europe, the assisted passage schemes, the end of the White Australia Policy, and refugee arrivals from Vietnam, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. The museum covers all of it through personal testimony rather than statistics.
A reconstructed ship section shows accommodation across different eras and classes, and the Immigration Discovery Centre allows family history research.
The Leaving Home and Getting In galleries deal directly with the policies that admitted or excluded people, including the dictation test used to enforce racial exclusion — a history Australia has approached with increasing candour.
Allow two hours. The main booking is an entry ticket. Current availability is shown below.
Before you book
Where is Immigration Museum?
Immigration Museum is in Melbourne, Australia. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Immigration Museum?
Allow two hours. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Immigration Museum in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
