The Board of Trustees and the Migration Museum Foundation are right behind the History Trust in its vision to renew the Migration Museum, the first of its type in the world when it opened in 1986.

Foundation Chair Elizabeth Ho OAM and co-design expert Angela Hazebroek OAM led an extensive History Trust consultation project between August 2023 and March 2024 to explore community opinion about the Migration Museum and its future, culminating in the Renewing the Migration Museum – The Community Speaks report. The report was endorsed by the History Trust’s Board of Trustees in April 2024.

This comprehensive co-design project was assisted by a ten-person reference group that included leaders from the Migrant Communities Council of SA, the Australian Migrant Resource Centre, the SA Multicultural Commission, and various key cultural advocacy bodies such as the African Communities Council.

Foundation Committee members joined with 200 individuals, representing 53 cultural or language groups, to generously contribute their views. Architectural firm Baukultur reflected the consensus in a concept plan offering design solutions.

Through this process, the History Trust and the Foundation learnt that nearly 40 years after its opening, the Migration Museum’s role in creating social cohesion, educating visitors, and explaining how migration has advanced South Australia is deeply valued, and that it is time to renew the site, ensuring its relevance for new migrant groups and student audiences.

Forty years on, help us rejuvenate this unique SA cultural treasure so we can keep telling our migration stories to new generations.