Queensland Museum Kurilpa launches free daily tour showcasing Queensland’s stories
A new guided Highlights Tour at Queensland Museum Kurilpa is turning a casual visit into a deep dive into dinosaurs, First Nations histories and cutting-edge science and it is completely free to join.
Queensland Museum Kurilpa at South Bank has added a free, bookable daily Highlights Tour to its program, inviting visitors to walk through the breadth of Queensland’s natural and cultural history with an expert guide. The one-hour tours are designed as a fast-track introduction to the museum’s major collections and exhibitions, making it easier for first-time visitors and regulars to get more out of a short visit.
Located on the corner of Grey and Melbourne Streets in the Queensland Cultural Centre precinct, the museum remains free to enter, with the new tour sitting alongside existing paid experiences such as SparkLab and temporary exhibitions.
What the Highlights Tour offers
The Highlights Tour takes small groups through key galleries and objects, moving from prehistoric Queensland including remains of giant dinosaurs and other ancient life through to contemporary science and technology. Museum guides use selected specimens and artefacts to unpack how Queensland’s environment, industries and communities have changed over millions of years.
Along the way, visitors are introduced to stories from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, whose cultures and connections to Country are a central focus of the museum’s First Nations work. The tour aims to highlight both long-standing collection items and newer displays, giving a sense of how the institution is reshaping its galleries around shared histories and collaboration with First Nations partners.
Focus on First Nations stories
Queensland Museum Kurilpa has publicly committed to elevating First Nations voices and to rethinking how Indigenous collections are presented, including through repatriation projects and new curatorial approaches. On the Highlights Tour, visitors hear about objects and displays that speak to thousands of years of knowledge, contemporary artistic practice and continuing efforts to tell “hidden histories” often left out of mainstream narratives.
The institution’s First Nations team and advisory structures work with communities across Queensland on projects ranging from language and cultural revitalisation to the return of significant objects and ancestral remains, and these themes increasingly appear across the museum’s public spaces. For many visitors, the guided format offers a more respectful and informed way to engage with these sensitive and complex stories than walking through exhibitions alone.
Session times, bookings and access
The free Highlights Tours run every day, with weekday sessions scheduled from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm and weekend sessions from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Tours are promoted as suitable for visitors aged 12 and over, and participants are asked to meet their guide about 10 minutes before the start time at the Whale Mall on Level Two.
Bookings are essential and can be made online via the Queensland Museum Kurilpa website or affiliated ticketing platforms, with places open until the tour start time if spots remain. While admission and the tour itself are free, organisers note that sessions may be cancelled at short notice in some circumstances, and that major construction works around South Bank can affect traffic and access.
Why it matters for Brisbane audiences
For Brisbane residents, the new Highlights Tour offers an affordable way for families, students and visitors to reconnect with a major cultural institution without the pressure of planning a full-day visit. By framing the experience around stories from dinosaurs to digital technology, and from First Nations resilience to modern innovation the museum is positioning Kurilpa as a gateway to understanding how Queensland’s past and present are linked.
The initiative also adds to South Bank’s broader cultural calendar, sitting alongside seasonal exhibitions, festivals and events that draw locals and tourists into the precinct year-round. For communities across Brisbane, particularly young people and new arrivals, the free tour can function as an accessible introduction to the state’s scientific, social and multicultural history in one hour.
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