Questacon
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| Established | 1986 (opened in 1988) |
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| Location | Parkes, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| Type | Science |
| Visitors | 407 000 in Centre |
| Director | Professor Graham Durant |
| Website | http://www.questacon.edu.au/ |
Questacon – the National Science and Technology Centre, is located on the southern shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australia. It is a large centre with more than 200 interactive exhibits relating to science and technology. It has many science programs that are devoted to inspiring the children of Australia to love science.
Questacon is an interactive science centre that opened in September 1988. It was developed by Professor Mike Gore, a physics lecturer from the Australian National University. Professor Gore went on to become the founding Director of Questacon.
Questacon's current building was Japan's present to Australia for the 1988 Bicentenary and it was opened on 23 November 1988. Japanese government and business contributed ¥1 billion, half of the capital cost of A$19.64 million. Questacon was formerly housed at the old Ainslie Primary School.
As of 3 December 2007, Questacon is a part of the Australian Government Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR). The director is Professor Graham Durant. Questacon's vision is "a better future for all Australians through engagement with science and innovation".
On Thursday 18 September 2008 a review of Questacon was released. The review was commissioned by Minister Kim Carr and chaired by John Simpson of National Australia Bank. Among other recommendations, the review calls for Questacon to be established as a statutory authority.
The galleries are staffed by paid staff, as well as team of about 60 volunteers. The volunteers occasionally will make use of Discovery Trolleys, featuring smaller, hands-on exhibits related to the gallery.
The Centre also features a number of performance spaces, used for presentations for general public and student audiences by Questacon's in-house theatre troupe, the "Excited Particles". The Excited Particles also perform puppet shows for young children and more serious talks on science and current events.
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