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Photo: Myk Dowling, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This museum presents a thematic rather than a chronological account of Australian history, and spent its early years embroiled in a controversy over whether its displays were politically biased. The NMA has been revamped and expanded and includes some excellent galleries on Indigenous Australia and many interesting items, but the museum as a whole is somewhat underwhelming and not likely to be of much interest to non-Australians.
The National Museum of Australia (NMA) is a national public museum in Canberra, Capital Territory, Australia. It is operated and funded by the federal government of Australia. It was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980.
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AIATSIS
A government institute where you can learn more about the culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There's a strong emphasis on the Stolen Generation (a time where European settlers displaced Indigenous children from their families) along with National Sorry Day, but they only make up a part of the institute's 1 million items dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
This unusual dome-shaped building owned by the Australian Academy of Science has been a Canberra landmark since the late 1950s, and is nicknamed the "martian embassy" by locals.
Housed in a 1930s art deco building, the NFSA is the custodian of more than 3 million items related to Australia's audiovisual history. Special events and exhibitions available; film screening programs run at Arc cinema (check the website for details). Self-guided tours of the building also available.
Exhibits a variety of post-grad artworks, in particular contemporary art.
Australian National University Classics Museum
One of the few classics museums in Australia, this museum within the Australian National University houses a small, but interesting, collection of ancient Greek and Roman artefacts. The A.D. Hope building also has a range of anthropological displays on Indigenous Australian and Pacific island cultures.
The flora found in this garden mostly reflects the landscapes and environments you would find in the Tasmanian Wilderness, and what would otherwise require long hikes to get to in Tasmania. Look out for water dragons here – they may be lurking around and occasionally cross the path.