The Geosciences Group at Museum Victoria is responsible for maintaining, developing, researching and promoting the State's historical collections of rocks, minerals, fossils and meteorites. The collections incorporate those from the Geological Survey of Victoria, the University of Melbourne, the former National Museum of Victoria and the former Science Museum of Victoria, and are amongst the largest in any Australian museum.
The collections document Earth history, particularly that of south-eastern Australia, and include much material on which published geological and palaeontological research is based. It is vital for future research that the collections are preserved and made accessible to investigators from around the world.
Museum staff carry out various types of research on the collections, including the investigation of mineral assemblages in diverse geological environments, the distribution and origin of Victorian gem minerals, Victorian meteorites, and the taxonomy, evolution and palaeobiogeography of various groups of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils. Staff also provide expert geological advice and a public identification service.