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Scienceworks is one of Australia’s leading science museums[1] located in Spotswood, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. It is one of three museums operated by Museums Victoria.[2] Displays and activities offered by the museum include hands-on experiments, demonstrations, and tours.

Scienceworks is housed in a purpose-built building “styled along industrial lines” near the historic Spotswood Pumping Station,[3] constructed in 1897, whose steam engines form an associated exhibit.[4] The pumping station forms part of the museum complex.[5] Being built on a site shared by the 125-year-old engineering marvel, Scienceworks links Melbourne’s industry, heritage, and applied technology[6]

Scienceworks was built to accommodate 250,000 visitors but pre-pandemic was attracting 500,000 visitors annually.[7]

History

Scienceworks opened on 27 March 1992 while Joan Kirner was premier of Victoria.[8][9] Its first permanent exhibitions were Inventions, Energy, Travel and Materials.[8][4] In 1999, the Melbourne Planetarium at Scienceworks opened.[8] It was the first in the Southern Hemisphere to have a digital star projector, as well as digital projection capabilities.[10]

From 1997–2013, the Water Tower Clock, built in 1882, a relic from the original Flinders Street Station was on display at the museum.[11] and later installed at the Southern Cross Station in 2014.[12][11]

In 2018, the CSIRAC (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Automatic Computer) was transferred from the Melbourne Museum to the Think Ahead exhibit.[13]

Museum

Facilities

The Melbourne Planetarium is housed on site.[14] On Friday nights, movies are shown in the planetarium.[15][16]

The “lightning Theatre” is a 120-seat auditorium where demonstrations about electricity feature a giant Tesla Coil, capable of generating two million volts of electricity, producing three metre lightning bolts.[17]

Exhibit Halls

There are both permanent and temporary exhibits at Scienceworks. Permanent exhibits at Scienceworks include

  • Think Ahead (opened 5 December 2013),[18] which is about advances in science and the speculative future,[19] Using multiple touch screens and large projections, Melbourne interactive design firm ENESS’ future car project encourages users to build a car and all its accoutrements: choices range from amphibious fins, wings, a bamboo chassis or perhaps an invisibility cloak.[20]
  • Sportsworks (opened <2000),[8] which is about the science of sports and the movement of the body.[21] Visitors are invited to pit themselves against a simulation of the Olympic 400m gold medallist Cathy Freeman on a 10m dual-lane track.[22]
  • Beyond Perception: Seeing the Unseen (opened 2018)[23] is about invisible forces.[24] Upon seeing this exhibit, Dr Kendall Ackley, a member of the team of scientists who discovered gravitational waves in 2016 remarked. “This is unbelievable. It’s everything that I could’ve wanted to show about how this work goes.”[25]
  • Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together (opened 4 December 2017)[26] is a sensory exhibit for babies to 5-year-olds.[27]

Temporary exhibits in 2026 include

  • Museum of the Moon (opened 16 March 2026)[28]
  • Colour: See the World in a New Light (opened 21 March 2026)[29]

Other

The Spotswood Pumping Station, built in the 1890’s[30], and on the Victorian Heritage Register showcases enormous steam engines and boilers, inside a gorgeous building reminiscent of a French mansion.[31]

Autism Friendly Museum

Scienceworks is an autism friendly museum with social scripts and maps showing high and low sensory spaces in the museum available on their website[32].

References

  1. ↑ Maddock, Rodney. “EXPANDING & UPGRADING SCIENCEWORKS TOO BIG AN OPPORTUNITY TO MISS” (PDF). womeda.com.au. West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. ↑ “Museums Victoria”. Council of Australasian Museum Directors. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  3. ↑ “Pumping Station: Scienceworks”. Museums Victoria. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  4. 1 2 Sherratt, Tim (December 1993). “Review of Scienceworks”. Historical Records of Australian Science. 9 (4): 387–388 – via discontents.com.au.
  5. ↑ “Historic sewer transformed into community parkland”. Architecture Australia. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  6. ↑ French, Robert. “Scienceworks is 30!”. Museums Victoria. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Maddock, Rodney. “EXPANDING & UPGRADING SCIENCEWORKS TOO BIG AN OPPORTUNITY TO MISS” (PDF). womeda.com.au. West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 French, Robert (27 March 2022). “Scienceworks is 30!”. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  9. ↑ “Thanks to a favourite daughter”. Maribyrnong & Hobsons Bay Star Weekly. 1 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  10. ↑ “H V McKay Planetarium”. Only Melbourne. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  11. 1 2 “Time to return – Water Tower Clock installed at Southern Cross Station”. Public Transport Victoria. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Wong, Marcus. “Southern Cross Station’s new Water Tower Clock”. Waking Up In Geelong. wongm.com. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  13. ↑ “Australia’s first computer finds new home at Scienceworks”. PACE Today. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  14. ↑ “Melbourne Planetarium”. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  15. ↑ “Planetarium Nights”. Museums Victoria. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  16. ↑ Dowse, Nicola. “Visit Scienceworks in Melbourne for fascinating exhibitions”. Time Out Melbourne. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  17. ↑ Cincotta, Katie (30 November 2011). “Top 11 things to do”. The Age. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  18. ↑ Cooke, Dewi (29 November 2013). “Scienceworks exhibition Think Ahead launches December 5 in Melbourne”. The Age. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  19. ↑ “Think Ahead”. Museums Victoria. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  20. ↑ Cooke, Dewi. “Scienceworks exhibition Think Ahead launches December 5 in Melbourne”. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  21. ↑ “Sportsworks”. Museums Victoria. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  22. ↑ Hunt, Elle. “Man sues museum after hitting a wall in race to beat virtual Cathy Freeman”. theguardian.com. theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  23. ↑ Mannix, Liam (24 October 2017). “Teens to bend spacetime fabric in new Scienceworks exhibition”. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  24. ↑ “Beyond Perception: Seeing the Unseen”. Museums Victoria. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  25. ↑ Howard, Jane. “Seeing the unseen: the exhibition opening up the universe to teenagers”. theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  26. ↑ “Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together – Scienceworks – Info – Melbourne”. Busy City Kids. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  27. ↑ “Ground Up: Building Big Ideas, Together”. Museums Victoria. 17 June 2025. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  28. ↑ “Museum of the Moon”. Museums Victoria.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ↑ “A new hands-on exhibition at Scienceworks turns the spotlight on colour[“. Melbourning. Melbourning. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  30. ↑ “The Spotswood Pumping Station”. museumsvictoria.com. Museums Victoria.
  31. ↑ “Spotswood Pumping Station”. Museums Victoria.
  32. ↑ “Scienceworks”. Timeout.com. Timeout.com. Retrieved 23 October 2024.