Visiting

General Public Visits
The Museum of Human Disease welcomes members of the public for self-guided visits through our collection of approximately 1,500 preserved human tissues and organs. These donations represent a wide range of diseases and medical conditions, offering valuable insight into human health, pathology, and medical history.ÌýVisitors are supported with a printed guide that highlights key conditions and stories from the collection, offering insight into the medical and social history of a wide range of diseases. This is complemented by informative displays, interpretive posters, and knowledgeable staff who are available to answer questions and support deeper understanding.
Things to consider before your visit
We encourage all visitors to approach the Museum with respect and an open mind. The human tissues on display were generously donated for the purpose of education and understanding.
Please be aware of the following:
Some individuals, including children and people from certain cultural or spiritual backgrounds, may find the display of real human tissue challenging. We recommend considering the suitability of the content before visiting.
Photography is not permitted inside the Museum, in respect for the human donations on display.
No food or drinks are allowed inside the Museum.
- A map of the museum can be found here.
Locating the museum
- If travelling by public transport, the most direct route is to take the L2 (Randwick) light rail and get off at the Âé¶¹Éçmadou High Street stop. As you enter Âé¶¹Éçmadou from High Street, walk straight ahead for about 100m and you will see the Samuels building on your left where the museum is located.
- If you are driving, the closest visitor parking is the Botany St carpark (entrance via Gate 11). Parking details can be found .
School Excursions
The Museum of Human Disease welcomes thousands of high school students each year as part of our engaging and educational excursion programs. Developed in collaboration with Âé¶¹Éçmadou academics and pathologists, our programs are directly aligned with curriculum outcomes and tailored to suit different year levels.
If you are planning a visit for a year group not listed in our program offerings, please get in touch with our team — we’re happy to work with you to find the most suitable option for your students.
Learning Resources
Once your booking is confirmed, we will provide PDF worksheets for students to complete during their visit, along with teacher answer sheets and guidance to support learning outcomes.
Program Format
Each excursion begins with a 25–45 minute interactive presentation delivered by our experienced museum staff. These sessions are designed to actively involve students, introduce key health and disease concepts, and prepare them for the activities that follow.
After the presentation, students explore the museum’s human tissue collection through structured activities such as quizzes, guided research tasks, or themed activity stations. These experiences are designed to deepen understanding of disease, public health, and the human body, while fostering respectful engagement with the generous donations that make this learning possible.
Descriptions of each program and activity can be found below.
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Hereditary and Genetic Change - This 25 minute presentation revises the fundamentals of genetics, including nomenclature, transcription, translation and the nature of inheritance. Inside the Museum, the students will work their way through 8 stations which focus on various topics, including inheritance, mutations, CRISPR and DNA plasmid design.
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Infectious and Non-Infectious Disease - This 45 minute presentation covers three key disease processes, cirrhosis (alcohol and viral hepatitis induced cirrhosis), atherosclerosis (smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise induced) and tuberculosis (bacterial infection). Inside the Museum, students work through 24 multiple choice, short response and extended case-based questions. These questions focus on pathogens, adaptations of pathogens, epidemiology and public health.
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Our Depth Study Primer program is designed to help your students gather information for their Depth Study assessment, and is flexible enough to complement most assessment types.ÌýThis 30-minute presentation covers how disease is defined and how we research it. This includes a discussion on why we often use primary sources when researching disease, as well as the present dilemma with unreliable primary literature due to the rise of predatory journals. We also go through some of the technical terms they will come across when researching disease to make sure students are well equipped to conduct their in-depth research of a particular disease in the Museum.
Inside the Museum students are given the freedom to pick a disease, case or organ to begin learning and researching these as they fill out their worksheet. We provide case histories, macroscopic descriptions and pathology knowledge to ensure students find a topic they are genuinely interested in and have the capacity to do some in-depth research into it at the Museum.
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This 45-minute presentationÌýcovers topics from the HSC Core 1 – Health Priorities in Australia curriculum, with an emphasis is on lifestyle choices and their effect on the body. In the Museum students work through a range of multiple choice, short response and extended response questions. These questions focus on lifestyle, non-infectious disease and drug use.
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This program covers areas within modules 5, 7 and 8 of the Investigating Science Syllabus. In the 30-minute presentation we cover research ethics, including the history, current practices and dilemmas facing research ethics in science, as well as evaluating primary and secondary sources, predatory journals and sample bias and sample size issues in science. Inside the Museum, students work through multiple choice, short response and extended critical thinking questions that are all linked to the syllabus. These questions focus on medical technology, peptic ulcer disease, vaccination, the scientific process, ethics and inflammation.
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Infectious and Non-Infectious Disease and the History of Medicine - This 45-minute presentation focuses on the changes in medicine throughout history. This includes discussions on the use of leeches and trepanning, trends in disease over time and our understanding of how to control disease. Inside the Museum students work through a range of multiple choice and short response questions focusing on the history of disease, our changing understanding of disease and hygiene.
Programs and Events
Please sign up to our Newsletter mailing list below to hear announcements about upcoming events such as Brain Awareness Week and The Day of Immunology.
Visiting
Opening hours
Mon-Fri: 10am - 4pm
Sat-Sun: Closed
Public holidays: Closed
Ìý
Prices
Adults - $10
Child - $5
Concession - $5
Include senior card, commonwealth pension cards, student cards.
Teachers & Âé¶¹Éçmadou staff and students - Free
Find us here
Ground Floor Samuels Building Âé¶¹Éçmadou, Sydney NSW 2052
Contact us
Email:Ìýdiseasemuseum@unsw.edu.au
Phone: 02 9065 0330
Book an excursion
Book a visit to the museum for your class now.
Educational visits
Price per student
2-hour session - $13
One program of your choosingÌý
4-hour session - $21
Two programs of your choosing
Teachers & Support staff - Free