Austral Building, Heritage-listed building in Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia

The Austral Building is a five-story structure with basement located on Collins Street in Melbourne, featuring red brick walls with cement details and steep slate roofs. Metal-framed shop fronts at ground level were added at different periods, while the upper levels contained professional offices and commercial spaces.

Nahum Barnet designed the Austral Building for magazine publisher Alexander McKinley & Co., best known for the Melbourne Punch, as a speculative venture of shops and professional chambers. It was built in 1890, with purpose-built artists' studios on the fourth floor at the rear. The ground-floor metal-framed shop fronts were added in 1909 and 1929.

The building's name comes from the Austral Salon, a pioneering Melbourne club for women's academic and artistic development, headquartered here from the 1890s. From the 1940s to the 1980s the Melbourne Arts League used the building, holding 1950s exhibitions by artists such as Fred Williams and Donald Friend.

The building is located on a main street with good accessibility and is easy to find. Visitors should note that as a historic structure it has limited accessibility features, and access to the upper levels involves climbing narrow stairs.

The building served as headquarters for the Austral Salon, a women's club dedicated to academic learning, and later housed the Melbourne Arts League. It was thus an important venue for women interested in education and supporting the arts.