Canberra

Gallery

ANU School of Art & Design Gallery

The public gallery of the ANU School of Art & Design, on the Acton campus. Its annual program runs graduate and postgraduate work alongside touring shows and prize exhibitions — the JamFactory ICON survey and the FUSE Glass Prize have both shown here — drawing on the school's studio workshops and the Centre for Art History and Art Theory. A foyer Project Space carries experimental, teaching-led displays. Free entry.

Museum

Australian Biodiversity Heritage Library

The National Herbarium of Australia at the Australian National Botanic Gardens holds over one million preserved plant specimens and serves as the principal botanical archive for the Australian flora, supporting research, conservation and our scientific understanding of the continent's extraordinary plant diversity.

Museum

Canberra Museum and Gallery

On the corner of London Circuit and Civic Square in central Canberra, this free civic museum and gallery holds the Nolan Collection on behalf of the Australian Government alongside rotating exhibitions of Canberra's history and culture. The café runs weekdays from 8.30am. Compact, unfussy, and genuinely useful for understanding how a planned capital acquired a past.

Heritage Site

Canberra Nara Peace Park

Commemorative park celebrating the sister-city relationship between Canberra and Nara, Japan. Features a traditional Japanese garden, stone lanterns and cherry blossom grove.

Museum

Canberra Space Centre (Deep Space Station)

Forty kilometres south of Canberra, in the Tidbinbilla Valley, enormous white dish antennas track spacecraft across the solar system in real time. The visitor centre explains what they're actually pointing at — check the tracking schedule before arriving. It's operational infrastructure you can walk up to, which is the point.

Gallery

Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre

Not-for-profit and membership-run, Craft ACT is the ACT's peak body for contemporary craft — a gallery and shop carrying ceramics, glass, textiles, metal, timber and jewellery by local and Australian makers including Jenni Kemarre Martiniello and Tjanpi Desert Weavers. Open Wednesday to Saturday, it's a working institution: rotating exhibitions, artist residencies, and a members' directory that maps the region's making community.

Heritage Site

Duntroon Military Heritage Precinct

Duntroon Military Heritage Precinct is a nationally significant heritage site in Canberra, ACT. The heritage site explores themes of military, architecture, social history. Core activities include conservation, exhibition, education. Visitors can enjoy guided tours, accessible. Notable for being long established. Nearby towns include Canberra CBD, Parkes, Forrest.

Botanical Garden

National Arboretum Canberra

Two hundred and fifty hectares of rare and endangered trees arranged in monocultural forests — each species given its own stand — make this the only arboretum of its kind at this scale anywhere. Opened in 2013, it also holds the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection. The views across the Molonglo Valley are a reasonable excuse to visit on their own.

Museum

National Capital Exhibition

Free exhibition on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin exploring the creation and planning of Canberra. Features Walter Burley Griffin's original designs and the story of the national capital.

Museum

Questacon — National Science & Technology Centre

Questacon — National Science & Technology Centre explores themes of science and technology. The venue is family-oriented and features interactive exhibits. Visitors can enjoy cafe, shop, accessible, family friendly, guided tours. Nearby towns include Canberra CBD, Parkes, Black Mountain.

Cultural Centre

Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Tuggeranong Arts Centre runs Studio M, a free Wednesday evening program for 18–25-year-olds with disability, held upstairs in a room called "the space." The pitch is honest: art matters, but so does the social connection. Participants range from beginners to advanced, and the relaxed format reflects that — less structured program, more genuine room to belong.