Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, Democracy museum in Ballarat, Australia
The Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, known as MADE, occupied a building designed by Beveridge Williams in the Eureka Stockade Memorial Park. It opened in 2013 with a 114-seat theatre, a café and galleries on the Eureka Rebellion and the 1850s goldfields. The original Eureka Flag, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat, was its centrepiece.
A first Eureka Stockade Centre opened on this site in 1993; it was rebuilt as the Eureka Stockade Interpretive Centre, opened by Premier Jeff Kennett on 27 March 1998. Between 2011 and 2013 the building was redeveloped into the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka, which opened on 4 May 2013. The City of Ballarat closed MADE on 31 March 2018 over its roughly $1 million annual running costs and began developing the current Eureka Centre the same year.
The original Eureka Flag, carried during the 1854 revolt, is on display inside and remains one of the most recognized political symbols in Australia. Seeing it up close gives a sense of how much that moment still means to many people across the country.
The museum is in central Ballarat and easy to reach whether you drive or take public transport. Plan for at least half a day to move through the galleries without feeling rushed.
The centre holds the original Eureka Flag, on loan from the Art Gallery of Ballarat since 2013. Premier Jeff Kennett's 1998 call to move the flag here from the gallery drew community backlash. After the 2018 closure, a public lobby group campaigned for its return to the gallery.
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