Museum of Central Australia

Telling the story of Central Australia's unique natural and geological history, the exhibitions follow the evolution of the landscape and the fascinating creatures that inhabited it.  From the big bang to the present day, meteorite fragments, fossils and interpretive displays detail the geological history of Central Australia.   A replica of the ancient Alcoota waterhole, a major scientific site in the region, displays some of the surprising megafauna fossils retrieved from the internationally significant Alcoota fossil site, including a giant freshwater crocodile and the largest bird that ever lived.

An outstanding exhibition of Central Australian birds, mammals, reptiles and insects give visitors the opportunity to identify many of the creatures they may see on their travels in the Red Centre.

The Museum of Central Australia houses the Strehlow Research Centre, one of Australia's most important collections of film, sound, archival records and museum objects relating to Indigenous ceremonial life. The Strehlow Collection was accumulated by the Lutheran Pastor Carl Strehlow and his son Professor TGH Strehlow over two generations of anthropological research with the Aboriginal people of central Australia.  Exhibitions and displays using the collections within the Strehlow Research Centre include both temporary and permanent installations.

Lost Crocs of Central Australia: Fossil Crocodiles from the Australian Deserts

Museum of Central Australia
7 December 2012 – 28 July 2013

An exhibition presenting 120 million years of the history of crocodiles in Australia.

The exhibition features the skull of Sarcosuchus, a 12 metre long, 8 tonne giant crocodile from the age of the dinosaurs, crocodile fossils from Central Australia including needle-snouted fish-eaters and deep snouted predators that hunted animals on land and unique fossils that belong to a family of crocodiles found only in Australia and some Pacific islands

Audio Guide

The Museum of Central Australia has launched a free audio guide that takes visitors on a journey through the geological and fossil history of central Australia.  Emeritus Curator of Palaeontology, Dr Peter Murray narrates a tale that stretches across time from the big bang to the astonishing megafauna of Central Australia on display at the Museum. Mammalogist Dr Ken Johnson, introduces visitors to explorer and scientist Hedley Finlayson, a man before his time who studied the unique mammals of the Centre in the 1930s on the cusp of a major mammal extinction, and coined the phrase, the ‘Red Centre’.

Visitors can choose to download the audio tour app or can use an iPod provided free with entry upon arrival at the Museum.

For visitors to the Museum who would like to download the audio guide on to their own device before they arrive, an iPod or iPhone is required. To load the Museum of Central Australia application on to your iPhone or iPod, simply connect the device to your PC and open iTunes on your computer, navigate to the iTunes store, in the search bar enter ‘Museum of Central Australia’ and download the application.

Please note that the Museum of Central Australia is unable to provide wifi access.  There are a number of public venues in Alice Springs that provide free wifi.  For more information on free wifi venues please contact the Alice Springs Tourist Information Centre.

Please note that visitors requesting the use of audio guides provided by the Museum of Central Australia will be required to provide a drivers licence, credit card or other form of identification for security purposes.  The identification will be retained until the return of the device.

Visitors are permitted to use their own iPod-compatible headphones with the Museum iPods.

Museum Factsheets

The Museum of Central undertakes programs in the field of natural history, geology, palaeontology and Central Australian history.  Enjoy the following fact sheets. [provided as pdfs]

• Meteorites in the Northern Territory (pdf 554Kb)
• Alcoota Fossil Site (pdf 503Kb)

Contact Us

Contact us for more information on the collections and exhibitions at the

Museum of Central Australia.

Museum of Central Australia
Corner Larapinta Drive and Memorial Avenue

Araluen Cultural Precinct

PO Box 3521 ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871

Tel: (08) 8951 1121
Fax: (08) 8951 1107