Melbourne, Australia, is home to a large number of cultural institutions, museums and historic sites, some of which are known worldwide:
| Name | Type | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| ANZ Banking Museum | Numismatic | website, banknotes and coins, moneyboxes, office machines, firearms, gold-mining equipment and uniforms |
| Australian Centre for Contemporary Art | Art | Contemporary art gallery |
| Australian Centre for the Moving Image | Media | Film, television, digital media |
| Australian National Aviation Museum | Aviation | Australia's aviation heritage |
| Australian Music Vault | Music | Australian music, part of Arts Centre Melbourne |
| Australian Racing Museum | Sports | Horse racing, part of the National Sports Museum |
| Backwoods Gallery | Art | Urban Contemporary, Street Art |
| Centre for Contemporary Photography | Art | Contemporary photo-based arts |
| Chinese Museum, Melbourne | Ethnic | Heritage and culture of Australia's Chinese community |
| City Gallery, Melbourne | Art | website, exhibits from the city's art and history collections |
| Cooks' Cottage | Historic house | Mid 18th century cottage of Captain James Cook's parents in England that was transported to Melbourne |
| Fairhall (House Museum) | Art | Georgian townhouse that houses The Johnston Collection of fine and decorative art |
| Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery | Art | website, traditional and contemporary concepts of Eastern philosophy through painting, sculptures, calligraphy, embroidery, pottery, decorative arts and antiques |
| Grainger Museum | Biographical | Documents the life, career and music of composer and pianist Percy Grainger |
| Hellenic Museum, Melbourne | Ethnic | Cultural traditions of ancient and contemporary Greece |
| Ian Potter Centre | Art | Houses the Australian part of the art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, includes paintings, sculpture, prints, photography, fashion and textiles |
| Ian Potter Museum of Art | Art | Part of the University of Melbourne, includes Australian art in all media from the early nineteenth century to the present, European art, International indigenous art, classics and archaeology |
| Immigration Museum, Melbourne | History | Operated by Museum Victoria, history of immigration in Australia |
| Islamic Museum of Australia | Ethnic | Islamic art and culture |
| Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre | Holocaust | |
| Jewish Museum of Australia | Jewish | Only Jewish community museum in Australia |
| The Johnston Collection | Art | Located in Fairhall, includes Georgian, Regency and Louis XV furniture, 18th and 19th century porcelain, and paintings from the 16th - 19th centuries |
| Koorie Heritage Trust | Ethnic | website, Koorie art, culture and heritage |
| La Trobe's Cottage | Historic house | Original mid 19th century home of Victoria's first Lt. Governor, Charles Joseph La Trobe, operated by the National Trust of Australia |
| Living Museum of the West | Ecomuseum | Documents social history of Melbourne's western suburbs |
| Mary Glowrey Museum | Biographical | website Documents the life and legacy of Melbourne doctor and medical missionary Mary Glowrey |
| Melbourne Maritime Museum | Maritime | Includes the museum ship Polly Woodside, 3-masted 19th century barque. Operated by the National Trust of Australia |
| Melbourne Museum | Multiple | Largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, operated by Museum Victoria, exhibits include natural history, science, art, culture |
| Melbourne Museum of Printing | Industrial | website, Working and teaching museum of typography and printing |
| Melbourne Tram Museum | Transportation | Large collection of Melbourne's trams, housed in the former Hawthorn tram depot |
| National Gallery of Victoria | Art | Includes the Ian Potter Centre, encompasses Indigenous (Australian Aboriginal) art, Australian colonial painting, Australian Impressionist painting, 20th century, modern and contemporary Australian art |
| National Steam Centre | Engineering | website Operated by Melbourne Steam Traction Engine Club Inc, working examples of mechanical heritage |
| National Sports Museum | Sports | Includes the Australian Racing Museum, Australian rules football, cricket, Olympic Games, tennis, rugby league, rugby union, soccer, basketball, boxing and netball |
| Newport Railway Museum | Transportation | Steam, electric and diesel locomotives, carriages, signalling and other historic railway equipment and artefacts |
| Old Melbourne Gaol | Prison | History of the 19th century prison used until 1924 |
| Old Treasury Building, Melbourne | History | Museum of Melbourne history from the 1830s, |
| Portable Iron Houses | Historic house | website, operated by the National Trust of Australia, prefabricated iron buildings from the gold rush era |
| RAAF Museum | Aviation | Military aircraft, official museum of the Royal Australian Air Force |
| Salvation Army Heritage Centre | History, cinema | website, Operated by the Salvation Army, includes original Limelight Department film studio |
| Schramm's Cottage Museum Complex | History | website, Operated by the Doncaster Templestowe Historical Society includes the stone Schramm's Cottage, the Waldau Cemetery and farm equipment collection. |
| Scienceworks | Science | Operated by Museum Victoria, hands-on science exhibits |
| Shot Tower Museum | Military | Located in Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, shows the production of shot balls by freefall of molten lead |
| TAA Museum | Aviation | website, Operated by TAA Australian Airlines 25 year club volunteers, exhibits of Trans Australia Airlines history |
| Victoria Police Museum | Law enforcement | website, social history of policing and crime in Victoria including uniforms, equipment, weapons |
| Victorian Telecommunications Museum | Technology | Telephones and telecommunications equipment |