Occasionally treasure hunts discover gems that one didn’t even know existed. In the case of the Telstra Museum in Bankstown the unknown gem comes with an invaluable curator and former Telstra employee, Brian Mullins. Amber with a preserved insect inside pales into insignificance with these finds. I went to the museum, on the advice of Robert Flynn from Telstra, to look for information on the Balmain Telephone Exchange and became fascinated by other items on display including photos and exhibits of telephone, telegraph, telex and other communications equipment used in post offices, telephone exchanges and radio and television stations. One fascinating exhibit was a 1910 Sydney GPO handwritten record, known as the “misdemeanours book”, in which were entered the names of employees, the “Nature of Irregularity” they had committed and the fine imposed on them. It is a huge official ledger of about a thousand pages with one or two employees per page. Amongst the entries was one for an employee whose irregularity was "absence without leave". His fine was a salary reduction from £140 to £120 per year. Another entry was for a thirteen-year-old messenger boy. He had fines of 1 shilling for each of eight irregularities that included incorrectly addressing telegrams, incorrectly enclosing telegrams, omitting porterage when addressing a telegram and placing a telegram in an incorrectly addressed envelope. The messenger boy obviously realised that he did not have a bright future in the post office so left and had a lifelong career in another profession. Norman T Gilroy was the first Australian to be appointed as a Catholic Cardinal. The museum had a file on the Balmain exchange but unfortunately it was small compared with files on some other exchanges. There was very limited information on the 1957 and 1971 exchange buildings and equipment which I was particularly interested in but the file did contain information (hand written letters and memos amongst other typed letters, notices, tenders and agreements) on the original 1914 Balmain automatic exchange and some subscriber information dating from the 1888 manual exchange. The names and statistics of Balmain telephone subscribers makes interesting reading mainly for the original few names and later for the number of subscribers. The PMG Annual Report of 1892 lists 15 subscribers in Balmain that included the Biloela Goal, the 1879 to 1908 gaol on Cockatoo Island, and the Callan Park Lunatic Asylum. Only subscriber numbers were available for the period 1950 to 1977.

I stumbled across a TikTok of all things, featuring video inside some sort of museum of telephony on the Telstra account and thought “wow, that’s cool” – so I had to visit! To my amazement, my kids had the most awesome time! We went along to film a segment for The Today Show so I assumed the kids would be bored, but that was far from the case. The Telstra Museum has locations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In Sydney its tucked away inside what I can only assume is a former Telstra Exchange facility or office, because it’s far from a Powerhouse like location – however, it’s perfect for what it is. In the back streets of Bankstown, behind a closed door this room is full of some wonderful treasures from our telecommunications past. There’s mobile phones from the early days, big enough to pass as a suitcase today, and smaller ones with pull out extendable antennas. Have one of the amazing volunteers (who are likely former Telstra employees with a love for this very technology) show you things like morse code, telex machines or even the original Telephone Exchanges. What’s amazing is, much of it is still working! Old Payphones, even Television and Radio network operations control panels – you name it, these museums have it. Oh, and there’s also George – the Speaking Clock. Kept ready for the day our mobiles stop telling us the time, a great slice of history itself.

Stumbled onto the museum. What a great little gem. The staff are knowledgeable and promoted interactions. Allow a couple of hours it is well worth it. Showing communication history in Australia. It is free but a little donation is excepted I will be back
Visited on
Weekday
Wait time
No wait
Reservation recommended
No

I took a group there today and the dedication and the knowledge of our guides and passion for what they do is incredible! Thank you so much for your knowledge and the working exhibits speak for themselves (so to speak!!)

Great place for anyone interested in our telecommunications heritage. The staff are most obliging and pleasant.

A cabinet of telecommunication wonders of the past. Well worth a visit if you have the time and interest.

Small Australian telecommunications history museum. Very knowledgeable staff, working hands-on exhibits.

Excellent guide
Visited on
Weekday
Wait time
No wait
Reservation recommended
Yes

Sadly, it closed, but the gg map still said open
Visited on
Weekday

Worth to visit...good to know how telephones were working, look, quality

Worth to visit, Great experience and staff were really helpful

just putting 5 stars because sydney needs more museums.

Great experience and staff were really helpful.

Staff were very knowledgeable