About the Melbourne Tram Museum

The Melbourne Tram Museum (ABN 11 293 508 607) is a volunteer-based non-profit group established under the Victorian Incorporations Act (incorporation number A0048167Z). We manage and operate the museum located at 8 Wallen Road, Hawthorn – the former Hawthorn Tram Depot – under a lease from VicTrack, focusing on the preservation and display of Melbourne’s tramway history.

VicTrack is the government-owned entity that manages the rail-based property and infrastructure owned by the State of Victoria, including many of its historic rail locations as well as heritage railway and tramway equipment. VicTrack owns the depot building and the majority of the tram exhibits, with the remainder being on loan from other tramway preservation groups.

The museum owns the depot building contents, including the museum archive, photographic and memorabilia collections. Our museum shop was established and is run by museum volunteers.

We are funded by membership fees, entry donations and shop sales. We also seek grants from local, State and Federal government agencies to fund major works and exhibitions, and use our own funds to produce the story-telling displays throughout the tram depot.

All staff at the Melbourne Tram Museum on open days are volunteers.

Our purpose is to:

• establish and operate a volunteer group to assist in the development and maintenance of the depot and its exhibits and to staff the facility on open days
• acquire, store and exhibit objects and information illustrating the history of Melbourne’s tramways and related matters on behalf of the Victorian people in perpetuity
• maintain and develop the display of historic tramcars and associated objects
• promote Melbourne tramway heritage initiatives
• provide information on the heritage of street tramway services in Melbourne.