Our Services

Queensland Museum Network manages the State Collection, delivers original research, manages a culturally appropriate Repatriation Program, offers learning resources and outreach programs and publishes best-selling books. We strive for excellent service and high-quality experiences.

Client service charter

Queensland Museum Network is committed to providing our visitors with excellent service and high quality information, learning experiences and products.

Queensland Museum Client Service Charter

Collections and Research

Queensland Museum Network is the keeping place for the State Collection: a magnificent assemblage of more than 15 million cultural objects, natural history specimens, geological treasures and research items.

As remarkable as the State Collection may be, it is of little value to the community if left unstudied. Every year, Queensland Museum Network scientists and curators conduct high-quality, original research on collection items.

Together, our collections and research play a critical role in documenting our past to better understand our future.

Only a fraction of the State Collection can ever be displayed publicly due to space constraints and conservation requirements. We increase accessibility through our Collections Online portal, displays at our public venues and official loans to galleries and museums in Australia and overseas.

Repatriation

Queensland Museum Network cares for the ancestral remains and secret and sacred objects belonging to Australian Indigenous People and First Nations Peoples from across the globe. Most were acquired between 1870-1970 without permission and without consideration for traditional laws and customs.

In 1990, Queensland Museum Network established a dedicated Repatriation Program and began to build relationships with Traditional Owners with the express purpose of returning ancestral remains and secret sacred objects to Country.

Today, Queensland Museum Network is recognised by the Australian Government as the peak body for repatriation in Queensland, and leads repatriation activities on behalf of Queensland Government.

Museums and engagement

Queensland Museum Network owns and operates the following public museums:

• Queensland Museum, South Bank, Brisbane
• Museum of Tropical Queensland, Townsville
• The Workshops Rail Museum, Ipswich
• Cobb+Co Museum, Toowoomba.

These multi award-winning sites provide safe and friendly environments for Queensland Museum Network to showcase exhibitions and programs based on the State Collection and associated research.

Information about our latest exhibitions, programs and major events such as World Science Festival Brisbane is available on our website and social media channels.

Outreach

Got a burning question? Every year, the Queensland Museum Network's Ask an Expert service responses to tens of thousands of museum-related questions including fossil and animal identification and information about cultural artefacts.

Queensland Museum Network's education loans program - one of the largest in the world - services community groups, schools and other educational institutions across Queensland.

Our museum development program provides best practice professional support for arts, cultural and collecting institutions and Indigenous Keeping Places across the state.

Education

Queensland Museum Network offers unique resources and learning opportunities for students from pre-school to university, as well as teachers and the general public.

Images and publications

Queensland Museum Network holds an outstanding image library of more than 250,000 photographs that document the natural and cultural heritage of Queensland.

Photographs are available in digital or print format for reproduction by community groups, educational and research institutions and commercial organisations.

These photographs feature in our exhibitions and best-selling wildlife and historical publications.