What's New

  • Members of the 4th Reinforcements, 58th Battalion waiting to board HMAT ORSOVA, Melbourne.

    2 Mar 2016

    New exhibition at the WA Maritime Museum explores role of Royal Australian Navy in First World War

    Touring exhibition War at Sea – the Navy in WWI opens at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle on 12 March.

    Amongst the stories told is that of Australia’s first submarine AE1 which disappeared while patrolling the seas near present day New Guinea on 14 September 1914. No trace of the vessel or its 35 hands has been found to this day.

    WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said it is important to remember and recognise the contribution and commitment of Australian sailors and submariners in the First World War.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • A photoshoot for the taxidermy mammal collection for Western Australian Museum records. Is this tiger hungry, or just camera shy?

    29 Feb 2016

    Behind the Scenes: Mammal Gallery Decant

    The Mammal Gallery decant from the Western Australian Museum - Perth to the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) at Welshpool has been a huge undertaking for all involved. 

    It allowed Museum staff the opportunity to update records and complete conservation work on the precious specimens. 

    Soula Veyradier, Manager, Western Australian Museum - Perth, said that the decant was a unique opportunity to work with the animals outside their display cases.  

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    Photo Galleries
    Western Australian Museum

  • A crèche in a large metropolitan hospital with babies laying in small cots, 1954.

    25 Feb 2016

    Exhibition reveals the truth about Australia’s past adoption practices

    A new exhibition, Without Consent: Australia’s past adoption practices, opens at the Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Friday 26 February.

    It brings to light a previously hidden aspect of Australia’s past: forced adoptions, and has offered those affected an opportunity to share their experiences – some for the first time.

    WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Regional Manager Zoe Scott said it is estimated at least 150,000 adoptions took place from the 1950s-1970s and a significant number of them were forced.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • Don Cockrell in his workshop in Fremantle, near the Western Australian Maritime Museum.

    24 Feb 2016

    Transporting the Museum - Don Cockrell

    Watch this video to find out how Don Cockrell makes transport mechanisms, called stillages, which are being used to transport and store specimens and objects from several of our Galleries. Galleries at the Western Australian Museum - Perth are being decanted to the Collections and Research Centre in Welshpool in preparation for the New Museum. 

    See a timelapse of the Mammal Gallery decant here - watch Don's stillages in action! 

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • Corporal James Davie Renner, 4th Divisional Signals Company, of Fremantle, Western Australia. Corporal Renner is appropriately dressed in a sheepskin vest during what was one of the coldest winters in decades on the Somme.

    22 Feb 2016

    Recent First World War discoveries at the WA Museum – Geraldton

    Visitors to the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton will have the opportunity to view the Australian War Memorial’s extraordinary travelling exhibition Remember me: the lost diggers of Vignacourt from 27 February 2016.

    WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said it was a privilege to display the unique First World War exhibition, an exquisite collection of black and white images printed from the original glass-plate negatives, as part of the Museum’s Centenary of Service commemorative calendar.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • Mammal Gallery Decant

    19 Feb 2016

    Mammal Gallery Decant Timelapse

    Watch this timelapse video to see a snapshot of the Mammal Gallery decant. Specimens from the gallery are being removed and taken to the Collections and Research Centre in Welshpool, where they will be safely stored in preparation for the New Museum. 

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • Skull of newly discovered Cookeroo hortusensis.

    19 Feb 2016

    Two new ancient kangaroo species discovered

    Two new species of extinct kangaroos that could be the ancestors of all modern kangaroos and wallabies in Australia, have been discovered by a team of scientists from the Western Australian Museum, the University of Queensland, and the University of New South Wales.

    The new species were described from fossils – including skulls – collected from the Riversleigh World Heritage area in north-western Queensland last century.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • 15 Feb 2016

    Diamonds to Dinosaurs

    Watch this video to find out about the history of the Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery.

    Transcript Alex Bevan

    My name is Alex Bevan, I am Head of  Earth and Planetary Sciences and Curator of Minerals and Meteorites.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 11 Feb 2016

    Artists sought for public art at New Museum

    • $1.6 million allocated for public art at the new museum
    • Public art to reflect and interpret the stories of Western Australia
    • Artist teams to develop either a single work or multiple works

    Artist teams are being asked to register their interest in creating the public art for Western Australia’s new museum.

    Culture and the Arts Minister John Day said the public art would reflect and interpret the stories of WA.

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    News
    Western Australian Museum

  • 11 Feb 2016

    Katta Djinoong #faveobjects

    WA Museum New Museum Project Creative Director Bliss Jensen’s #faveobjects at the WA Museum – Perth are the Kimberley points. The points were on display in the Katta Djinoong gallery.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery

    10 Feb 2016

    Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery Decant

    The Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery is currently being decanted, the process having starting in the first week of February 2016. The decant is being overseen by Alex Bevan, who is the Head of Department, Earth and Planetary Science, and Curator of Mineralogy and Meteorites at the Western Australian Museum.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

  • 10 Feb 2016

    Carnotaurus Timelapse

    Watch this timelapse video to see our Carnotaurus being moved out of the Western Australian Museum - Perth Foyer for transportation to the CRC in Welshpool.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • 4 Feb 2016

    On The Move II

    The Carnotaurus at the WA Museum – Perth is being moved to safe storage at the WA Museum Collections and Research Centre in preparation for the New Museum for WA.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • Newly discovered Xenoturbella hollandorum crawling over an American dime. Image courtesy Greg Rouse and Nerida Wilson.

    4 Feb 2016

    Four new deep-sea Xenoturbella species discovered

    Four new species of Xenoturbella have been discovered living in the deep waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean by a team of scientists from the Western Australian Museum, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium & Research Institute in the United States.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • 4 Feb 2016

    On The Move

    Our Carnotaurus ‘Betty’ was moved from the Perth site and taken to the WA Museum Collections and Research Centre for safe storage as we prepare for the New Museum for WA.

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    Video
    Western Australian Museum

  • FameLab

    1 Feb 2016

    FameLab

    Image copyright FameLab

    Attention early-career researchers!

    The British Council is looking for passionate scientists, engineers and mathematicians with a peer-reviewed discovery and a flair for public engagement to compete in its international science communication competition, FameLab.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

  • A taxidermied specimen (American Bison) on display behind a glass case in the Mammal Gallery

    25 Jan 2016

    The Mammal Gallery

    The Western Australian Museum are getting ready to build a New Museum for Western Australia, and an initial step in this process is to decant the thousands of specimens and objects from the WA Museum – Perth into safe storage at the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) in Welshpool. This article explores the history and decant of the Mammal Gallery, with insights from Western Australian Museum Mammology Dr Kenny Travouillon.

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    Photo Galleries
    Western Australian Museum

  • 19 Jan 2016

    Live music and harbour sunsets at the WA Maritime Museum

    Fremantle will add another string to its creative bow when the WA Maritime Museum opens its doors to live music and sunset bars from Sunday 31 January.

    Western Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Museum has partnered with RTRFM to bring Harbour Sundays to Fremantle for five consecutive weeks.

    “We will be hosting live music on the balcony of the Maritime Museum with a spectacular view across the river and out to the Indian Ocean.  There will be a licenced bar to help people fully enjoy the entertainment and the stunning sunsets!” Mr Coles said.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • Spider

    18 Jan 2016

    The role of DNA in species discovery

    To the surprise of some, most of the earth’s biodiversity remains undiscovered and undescribed. In 2011, Camilo Mora and colleagues calculated there are approximately 8.7 million eukaryotic species on earth (eukaryotes are those organisms that we normally think of, like plants, animals and fungi), and of these, 85% remain undescribed and/or unknown to science.

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    Blog entry
    Molecular Systematics Unit