We are delighted to have your involvement in the Open House Melbourne Weekend 2025: Stories of the City

 

This Collaborator Portal is your go-to online guide for participating in the Weekend 2025. Here you will find key dates + deadlines, resources for review and download and tips + tricks for making your program the best it can be.

 

This page is regularly updated, so bookmark this link or save it somewhere safe for quick + easy access!

 

Last update: Tuesday 11 March

Key Dates Timeline

Thursday 17 April 2025—Final event details confirmed + registration fee paid
Our team and copy editor will review all content and get it ready for the print and digital program.

Early-mid May—preview program listings to Collaborators for review
You’ll have an opportunity to review your content for accuracy and submit edit requests before it goes live

Mid-June—Collaborator Marketing Kit available 

Wednesday 25 June 2025—Open House Melbourne Weekend Program Launch—Celebrate the launch of the Weekend program with us!
The Weekend program remains under embargo until this point—please keep your participation under wraps for now.

Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July 2025—Open House Melbourne Weekend

Early August— Volunteer and Collaborator Thank-You Event

Ticketing for pre-booked programs

All ticketing for pre-booked programs will be managed by Open House Melbourne via Humanitix. We will work with you to understand your capacity for oversubscription to account for attrition.  A small fee of $7 will apply to all tickets to contribute to the ticketing administration costs and promote attendance.

A ticketing link for your program will be included in the digital program. Tickets are released to the public across two dates—2 + 5 July. This allows time for people to review the program and effectively plan their Weekend and to increase equity of access. When your program becomes fully booked, a waitlist will be activated. Offers of available tickets due to cancellations will be processed automatically as an offer to the next person on the list.

Reminder emails for ticketed programs will be sent 72 hours prior to your event. You will be given access to your event via the Humanitix app which shows up-to-date registration numbers and provides scanning permission. On the Weekend, your team (with the support of Open House Melbourne volunteers) will be responsible for checking in attendees by scanning the QR on their ticket.

Program formats for inspiration

Open Access buildings and spaces are open for guided or self-guided tours which are free and do not require pre-booking. Visitors can simply turn up and take part—see last year’s offering at Government House and Today for great examples of Open Access programming. A minimum open time of 6 hours is expected.

Open Access and Pre-bookings include an open, drop in style offering plus a pre-booked tour or event component—see last year’s offering at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s 75th Anniversary or Melbourne Recital Centre for excellent examples of this format.

Pre-bookings are required for some programs with limited capacity or security considerations like residential homes, construction sites or limited capacity tours—see last year’s offering Living Around a Courtyard. A minimum capacity allowance of 50 people is expected.

Signage

Open House Melbourne signage ensures visitors can find you and your program. A stock of A-frames and flags is allocated to Collaborators to use over the Weekend for wayfinding. All Collaborators are required to display Open House signage across the Weekend.

It is the responsibility of the Collaborator to collect and return signage within the scheduled timeframes (to be provided) or Open House Melbourne can arrange a courier service upon your request for an additional fee. Alternatively, if you are a repeat Collaborator, options to purchase signage will be available.

Volunteers

Open House Melbourne recruits around 500 volunteers each year to support the delivery of the Weekend, brightening up the city with their hot pink vests. They can assist you during your program with greeting visitors, queue and group management, assembling signage, checking attendee lists, way-finding and directions and sharing building information.

Volunteers are rostered for 3-4 hour shifts and will be allocated on an as needs basis.

While we endeavour to meet all volunteer requests, the support of Open House Melbourne volunteers is not guaranteed. As such, we expect you can run your program or event without the support of a volunteer.

More information will be made available to you about volunteers once we’ve received your completed Content Form.

RE/DISCOVER your City | 2024 Program Archive

To get an idea of how your content and event will appear in our digital program, check out the program archive from last year’s Open House Melbourne Weekend, RE/DISCOVER your City.

View Program Archive

Refresher: Collaborator Information Session

Hear from Open House Melbourne about how the Weekend rolls out, what support we offer, marketing and communications activities and tips and tricks for successful program formats.

Watch now

Collaborator FAQs

Whether you’re in individual or an organisation, you’ll become a Collaborator when your submission is accepted into the program. We’ll then support you to supply the required information for the print and digital program and ensure you’re prepared to deliver your event successfully during the Weekend.

 

For successful participation on the Open House Melbourne Weekend we expect all Collaborators to:

+ Hold necessary permissions and insurances to undertake the proposed program/event during the Weekend (26 + 27 July 2025) and agree to the Collaborator Terms + Conditions
+ Open their building space for a minimum of six hours across the weekend and/or accommodate a minimum capacity of 50 people for events/tours
+ Have a knowledgeable, responsible person/s (on-site or online) to oversee the delivery of the program/event and engage with the public during the Weekend;
+ Submit all required content/information about the planned experience to meet Open House Melbourne deadlines for print and digital program and logistical planning;
+ Where required, host Open House Melbourne Volunteers during their allocated 3-4 hour shift to provide event support and collect visitor data;
+ Promote their participation in the Weekend across platforms including website and social media and will where applicable, display Open House Melbourne signage onsite during the event.

The Open House Melbourne Weekend 2025 will take place across Saturday 26 + Sunday 27 July 2025.

Open House Melbourne programming including Designing with Country, Modern Melbourne, This is Public and the Heritage Address will take place in the evenings surrounding the Weekend.

We’ll send the program live on Wednesday 25 June. The program is under embargo until then so please keep your involvement under wraps until then.

 

You will be notified about your volunteer allocation in late June.

In 2025, all ticketing for pre-booked programs will be managed by Open House Melbourne via Humanitix. We will work with you to understand your capacity for oversubscription to account for attrition.

A small fee of $7 will apply to all tickets to contribute to the ticketing administration costs.

Open House Melbourne will create a ticketing link for your program to include in the digital program and for you to share with your networks.

Tickets are released to the public across two dates—2 + 5 July. This allows time for people to review the program and effectively plan their Weekend.  Two releases of tickets are scheduled to increase equity of access.

When your program becomes fully booked, a waitlist will be activated. Offers of available tickets due to cancellations will be processed automatically as an offer to the next person on the list.

Reminder emails for ticketed programs will be sent 72 hours prior to your event.

You will be given access to your event via the Humanitix app which shows up-to-date registration numbers and provides scanning permission.

On the Weekend, your team (with the support of Open House Melbourne volunteers) will be responsible for checking in attendees by scanning the QR on their ticket.

If you have any questions about ticketing, please contact us via info@ohm.org.au.

Open House Melbourne undertakes comprehensive marketing and PR activities in the lead up to and during the Weekend. We have an established database of 48,000+ email subscribers, 600,000+ annual website visits and an audience of over 58,000 across social media channels. Learn more in our 2024 Event Report here.

You will be provided a marketing kit including branding guidelines and digital and print assets to share with your networks to promote the Weekend.

For tailored benefits and services, please enquire about Partner and Sponsorship packages with Katie Evans, Partnerships + Communications Manager via katie.evans@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612.

Collaborator registration fees ensure we can continue to deliver the much-loved Open House Melbourne Weekend into the future. Registration fees contribute to administration costs, insurance, accessibility services, event management, volunteer recruitment and signage.

The fee structure is as follows:

  • $65 (Individual)
  • $120 (not-for-profit or community group)
  • $260 (school, for-profit, local government)
  • $440 (higher education, State government)

To discuss a payment plan or any other aspect relating to fees, please contact us via info@ohm.org.au or +61 3 8648 8612.

The Open House Melbourne Weekend celebrates good design by opening up buildings, places and spaces, inspiring public engagement in conversations about the future of our city.

Open House Melbourne is the largest and longest-running Open House program in Australia. The Weekend provides you the opportunity to:

  • take an active role in advocating for the value of good design in our built environment
  • contribute to broad public discussion around the role of design in creating better futures
  • reach a broad cross-section of the community
  • gain access to new audiences.

Contact us

If you have a question that’s not answered here, please contact us via info@ohm.org.au or 03 8648 8612.

Note: we’re frequently out of the office for meetings and site visits so please email us if you can’t get through via phone. We aim to respond within 48 hours so please be patient but don’t hesitate to follow up if you haven’t heard back from us in this time.

Contact us