FAQs

Open House Melbourne is a not-for-profit organisation that advocates for good design and empowers citizens to be active participants in the building of their city. Our annual program of talks, tours and events explore issues, challenges and success stories of Melbourne’s built environment.

At the heart of the program is the much-loved Open House Weekend, taking place each year at the end of July, where a number of significant buildings and sites across the city are open so people can learn about how the built environment and urban planning initiatives and issues influence our culture and shape our future.

The dates change each year, but it is always the last weekend in July. In 2025, it will take place across Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July.

Most buildings and events operate on an ‘open access’ basis and don’t required bookings. Capacity limits still apply, so please be prepared to wait for limited capacity or popular buildings. Ask our volunteers and building staff for more information on arrival.

Some buildings and events with limited capacity or timed tours may require bookings. This will be clearly stated in the event listing, which will include a booking link. Check individual pages for further booking details.

The majority of buildings are free, while some have a small $7 booking fee attached to cover ticketing administration.

For more about ticketing, read our Ticketing Terms and Conditions.

Yes! Waitlists are automatically applied to limited capacity tours and events.

You will be prompted to ‘Join Waitlist’ if the event is at capacity but there is space in the waitlist. If a spot becomes available, you’ll be notified by email and will need to be quick to secure your spot!

The event will appear as ‘Sold Out’ when both the event and waitlist are at capacity.

The Weekend is mostly free. 

Most open access buildings and spaces open for guided and self-guided tours are free. A small number of events and buildings have pre-booked tours due to their limited capacity and will have a small, non-refunable $7 fee attached to cover ticketing administration. This is indicated on individual building and event pages.

If you are no longer able to make your pre-booked tour or event, we kindly ask that you cancel your ticket so that someone else can attend.

Select ‘Update Order’ on your booking confirmation and then select ‘Refunds’ to process your cancellation.

The $7 booking fee required for Weekend programs contributes to ticketing administration costs and are non-refundable.

Please email us at info@ohm.org.au if you have any issues with this process.

The $7 booking fee required for Weekend programs contributes to ticketing administration costs and are non-refundable.

Ticket refunds for year-round programs that do not fall within The Weekend are available up to 3 days prior to the event, minus the $7 booking fee included in the original ticket price. Please contact info@ohm.org.au to arrange. No refund requests will be accepted less than 72 hours prior to the event start time, unless in the case of extenuating circumstances.

Booking fees and donations are non-refundable. Please email us at info@ohm.org.au if you have any questions.

For more about ticketing, read our Ticketing Terms and Conditions.

It is important for the organisation to meet best practice standards for sustainability and environmental considerations so we are no longer printing the Weekend program book. All program information is available in detail here on our website.

A light, printed broadsheet with highlight programs and printed precinct maps will be available at select Precinct Partner locations and from the Info Hub in the lead up to and during The Weekend.

Please refer back to the digital program for any updates to buildings or events in your itinerary.

Please email us at info@ohm.org.au if you have any questions.

Not all buildings will open every year for the Weekend. To keep the program fresh and exciting and encourage you to explore new spaces, we cycle a variety of buildings through the program each year.

Collaborators also to give their time and energy to opening up for the Weekend so sometimes they choose to have a year off! But keep a look out – you might see your favourite building back on the program next year.

We are thrilled to have the support of the hundreds of volunteers that make up our Volunteer community – The Weekend simply could not go ahead without their enthusiasm, dedication and time.

View our Volunteer page for available opportunities.

Read our full Ticketing Terms and Conditions here.