Chinatowns the world over have long held a fascination as enclaves of intrigue, of food and culture and a vibrant commercial spirit. The same holds true for Sydney’s Haymarket Chinatown, which relocated from the first Chinese settlement in The Rocks at the beginning of the 20th century. The exhibition honours the merchant families who built their businesses and homes in Australia by leveraging entrepreneurial skill, family clan networks, and transnational connections.
LEARN MORE NOW OPEN · FREE ENTRY A home for stories
A home for stories
of Chinese Australians.
The Museum of Chinese in Australia is dedicated to sharing and preserving the rich history, traditions and culture of Chinese Australians — and the many ways their lives have shaped the country we share.
744 George Street, Haymarket
Latest Events 最新活動
- 10 SepForum10 Sep
This presentation tells the life story of Harold John Timperley, and the story of getting the story. Timperley left no great collection of papers and no personal archive, and the reason for that is central to the talk. It works in neatly with this year’s History Week theme, “Keeping Stories”.
LEARN MORE - 08 SepForum08 SepTalk Forum
An Unlikely Heritage: Rethinking the Kuomintang in Sydney (English)
MOCA, 744 George Street, HaymarketDrawing on a decade of archival research, Dr Mei-fen Kuo opens up records that have sat quiet for generations. They reveal two histories tangled together: one of community, mutual aid and civic life, the other of political loyalty, party discipline and transnational networks. Neither can be pulled free of the other.So what does it mean when a Kuomintang headquarters becomes part of Australia’s heritage? More than the story of one political organisation, this unlikely heritage asks us to rethink migration, belonging, and the place of Chinese Australians in Australia’s shared past.
LEARN MORE - 01 SepForum01 SepTalk Forum
An Unlikely Heritage: Rethinking the Kuomintang in Sydney (Mandarin)
MOCA, 744 George Street, HaymarketIn the heart of Sydney stands a building most people walk past without a second glance. It was the Kuomintang’s Sydney headquarters, and it is now heritage listed.Drawing on a decade of archival research, Dr Mei-fen Kuo opens up records that have sat quiet for generations. They reveal two histories tangled together: one of community, mutual aid and civic life, the other of political loyalty, party discipline and transnational networks. Neither can be pulled free of the other.
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ABOUT US 關於我們
The idea to establish the Museum of Chinese in Australia was conceived in 2019 as a way of creating a centre for the discovery, preservation and promotion of the story of the Chinese in Australia. The founding directors – including the eminent Australians John Yu AC and Dr Stephen FitzGerald AO – envisioned a dedicated museum space in the Haymarket district of Sydney, the city’s oldest surviving and largest Chinatown, that would complement and cooperate with history and cultural institutions in other locations both in Sydney and around the country.
On 22 February 2026, MOCA was opened by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, and the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. It is the first and only museum in New South Wales dedicated to the history and culture of Chinese Australians.
The idea to establish the Museum of Chinese in Australia was conceived in 2019 as a way of creating a centre for the discovery, preservation and promotion of the story of the Chinese in Australia. The founding directors – including the eminent Australians John Yu AC and Dr Stephen FitzGerald AO – envisioned a dedicated museum space in the Haymarket district of Sydney, the city’s oldest surviving and largest Chinatown, that would complement and cooperate with history and cultural institutions in other locations both in Sydney and around the country.
On 22 February 2026, MOCA was opened by the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, and the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. It is the first and only museum in New South Wales dedicated to the history and culture of Chinese Australians.
MOCA acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Museum is built.
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We would like to hear from anyone who has an interest in volunteering to work at the museum, even if it’s only for a couple of hours a week. If you think you would like to assist, please email us at [email protected] with a short introduction and your contact details.
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