The Western Australian Museum History Department Collection

A collection that reflects the material life of Western Australians from early colonial times (1820s) to the present. It presents the story of people and place in Western Australia in all its diversity.The collection consists of around 100,000 items ranging from fine lacework to motor vehicles. It features collections reflecting the early Swan River Colony, convictism, Indigenous life, the story of migration, making-do, working life including gold mining history, the Arnott, Mills and Ware Cake and Biscuit Factory, domestic work, office work and various trades, as well as a significant collection of trade union banners. It also features several important sub collections such as the ECU Museum of Childhood Collection, the nation's most extensive and significant collection of childhood material.