The Science collections date back to the first years of the National Museum of Victoria, established in 1854, when the founding director, Professor Frederick McCoy, commenced an active program of acquiring Australian and foreign material.
Since those early years, field-collecting programs, donations, purchases and exchanges with other museums and private collectors have contributed to the growth of these collections. The museum is the repository for specimens collected during scientific studies and surveys by museum staff, university researchers and students, as well as scientists from government agencies.
Comprised of approximately 15.3 million specimens, the collections are most often thought of as a source of material for exhibition and education programs, however only a small percentage are on exhibit at any one time.
The specimens are maintained for study by scientists in government and private industry, amateur naturalists, artists, media and the general public. They are a record of our biodiversity and underpin information such as species identifications and distribution data supplied to a wide range of government agencies as well as many companies and individuals in the private sector.
Select from collection areas at left to view further details of our collections.