Overview
Aboriginal culture continues to adapt and evolve, 60,000 years after it began.
While Victoria is home to ancient rock art and the world's oldest aquaculture system at Budj Bim, Melbourne's urban environment has a culture just as strong. Aboriginal people have many stories to tell, and there is a continuing existence of Australia's first people sharing their culture in the heart of the city.
Experiences in Melbourne
Victorian Aboriginal culture is diverse and extends beyond the more traditional concepts and ideas. In Melbourne you can dive deeper to uncover some of the city's most revered places of significance. Add further depth to these urban settings by engaging with the locals who were, and still are, central to Aboriginal existence.
Experiences in Melbourne can illuminate contemporary knowledge of Aboriginal life, including the impact of colonisation, survival, land rights and the oral histories of previous generations, brought forward by modern story-telling practices.
Take a tour
Learn more about these stories through Melbourne's urban Aboriginal experiences. Tour the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum and the Koorie Heritage Trust, or book a place on the Royal Botanic Gardens Aboriginal Heritage Walk. Download the Yalinguth self-guided walking tour app for an augmented First Nations audio experience.
Enrich your experience of these tours at Melbourne's art galleries and institutions, which play an important role in showcasing Aboriginal art, both traditional and contemporary.
A taste of culture
Get a taste of traditional Indigenous ingredients at Torres Strait Islander owned and run Big Esso by Mabu Mabu at Federation Square, and at its smaller sibling Mabu Mabu Tuck Shop in Melbourne's west. Under chef Nornie Bero, Mabu Mabu specialises in menus using native Australian ingredients and gives these flavours the starring role they deserve.
Urban Melbourne has heaps of opportunity for you to immerse yourself in an environment that takes you from pre- and post-European arrival, and to discover contemporary topics around life for Indigenous peoples today.
