Museum of Chinese Australian History — Attraction in Melbourne

The Museum of Chinese Australian History was established in 1985 as a community-run, not-for-profit national institution to document, preserve, collect and research the history and culture of Chinese Australians and their descendants. The Museum is housed in a late nineteenth century five-level warehouse. The warehouse was built in 1890 by the Cohen Bros who were furniture manufacturers and they used this building as a factory to make furniture and also a storeroom. After the Cohen Bros moved out, it was purchased by Her Majesty’s theatre and was used for the storage of sets and costumes. During the hey-day of musical extravaganzas, it was also used as change rooms for the large choruses that were a part of these shows. The building was acquired by the Victorian government from Her Majesty’s in 1985 and is rented by the Museum for a nominal fee. When it opened its doors to the public in November 1985 it had no foundation collection and only three levels of the building had been renovated – basement, ground and first floors. The second floor was renovated in 1987 and the third floor along with the rest of the building in 1995. In 2010 renovations were made to the ground and...

It's very hard to find an activity that makes everyone in the family happy and we were a group of 6 that ranged in age from 11 to 76...however the Museum of Chinese Australian History ticked all the boxes for everyone today. We spent about an hour looking through the various exhibits over 3 levels and everyone found things that interested them. The treasure hunt map especially was a great touch as it kept the 11 year old engaged, lured by the promise of a prize at the end. Shout out to the lady working the front entrance, she was super friendly and very lovely. If you're in the city with friends or family and are looking for something to do after eating a big meal and you're too full to head straight to a cafe for cake and coffee, I highly recommend this museum. The entry fee is...

This place was set up like a Charity organization without giving deep thoughts and plans about what and how to present historical information to the public. The very selective fragmented collection can confuse people rather than create interest and educate young and old what history does for humanity. If you do not have any background understanding of Chinese History from begining to end, you will not get to the truth via this poorly equipped museum. The poor professional standards of running a museum can be seen everywhere inside. It is very hard to convince the public to pay for entry unless you are fooled by it. I wish I could take over and lift the quality standards to be like Canberra or Jewish Museum...