Been here several times as a local. The memorabilia rooms and the building itself are impressive and there’s a cool timeline about Beaumont St. With the exception of the car exhibit, the Supernova is incredibly poor in quality - science can be so cool and relatively easy to engage young people in. They have somehow managed to make this section boring - every time I go, there’s an exhibit not working and most kids are completely disinterested. There’s long winded explanations tailored to adults and the scientific phenomenon on display are not that cool to interact with. Aesthetically it also looks like it’s been designed on a very minimal budget. Okay for an air con space to let kids burn energy. Otherwise, uninspired.

The travesty is the lack of dedicated permanent specialised space to Indigenous culture and history. What an awesome project this would be, especially if it was led by local representative bodies. The museum has made effort to scatter Indigenous-relevant pieces throughout however this presents as tokenistic. I have had multiple interstate and visitors comment on this lack of recognition at the local museum given the rich and important Indigenous history of Newcastle. Fair point. BHP, local musicians, war etc are important, so is the Aboriginal culture and history - oldest living culture and all