Education Group Booking

Tour Guidelines

Group bookings should be
requested by submitting a booking form, available from our website, or by
emailing [email protected]

Group/private bookings requesting Observatory access (Astronomy Tours) and overnight sleepovers may only be placed for Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings.

Bookings are not confirmed until advised by email.

Per Department of Education guidelines, we request the following ratios:

Years 1 – 3       1 adult: 6 students

Years 4 – 12     1 adult: 15 students

Tour fees, including optional extras such as meals, are outlined in each of our Booking Request Forms.  We typically do not charge Staff/Crew admission, unless your Group has booked to attend on an evening where we are hosting our regular Friday - Sunday Public Tour.

Invoices are generally issued on completion of your tour.

Overnight Stays

Sleeping arrangements are tailored to the Groups requirements and logistics.

For smaller Groups (i.e. less than ten participants) or groups comprising either only girls or only boys, all participants would be assigned the Indigenous Gallery to sleep.

For Groups with over ten participants (as an approximation) comprising co-ed male/females and dependent on the Year Level we typically assign the Indigenous Gallery (inside main Discovery Building where toilets are located) to girls, with the Cosmology Gallery (adjacent to the Discovery Building, accessible via internal stairs and raised walkway) assigned to the boys.

Groups are to bring their own bedding, as below, and set up on arrival on instruction from GDC Staff/Guide

- Swag, inflatable mattress or foldup camp stretcher

- Sleeping bag/doona

- Pillow/s

- Tents are not permitted

All Tour participants must only sleep/place their overnight equipment inside in their allocate area.

Tour Outline

Your timetable will be finalised and issued on the day of your tour by your Guide.  We do this as the exact order of events may be impacted by weather and environmental conditions. 

As a rough guide, education groups tours run per the following timetable:

On arrival you will be met by your Guide and given an overview of your tour schedule.

For groups staying overnight, you will be invited at this point to unpack and set up accordingly.

This timetable represents an EXAMPLE ONLY for Guided Group Tours and is intended to outline the timeframe allocated to each activity/component.  Groups generally comprise of up to 25 participants per Guide.

Participants must also always be accompanied by a supervising adult from your Group, as per the above stated ratios outlined by Dept. of Education.