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Please notify us of all access requirements when booking online so we can assist you with your visit to the Wheeler Centre. If you require further information, please contact reception on 03 9094 7809 or reception@wheelercentre.com.

 

There are two metered street-side disability parking spaces available on the left-hand side of Little Lonsdale Street – accessible from the Swanston Street end – roughly 25 metres from the Wheeler Centre’s wheelchair access ramp. These spaces are 2 hours between 7.30am-8.30pm, and unlimited outside of these hours.

There are three additional spaces on LaTrobe Street, outside Mr Tulk.

The footpaths on Little Lonsdale Street are quite narrow, and are on a slight slope, but are flat and well-surfaced. The footpaths are 1.4 metres wide at the narrowest point.

The Wheeler Centre’s foyer is accessible by either stairs or a 23 metre long ramp. At the front of the building, there are nine steep steps with a rail on either side. Each step is 25 centimetres deep. To the side of this, there is a ramp to the right-hand side of the front door as well.

Have your tickets ready

Please make sure to have your tickets ready before you arrive at the venue. There’s no need to print; you can simply display the PDF barcode on your phone. Turn your device brightness up – it’ll help our ushers scan your tickets on entry.

Can’t find your tickets?

When you booked, we sent you an email with a PDF attachment containing your ticket/s. You would’ve received this from ticketing@wheelercentre.com . If you are unable to find your ticket before an event, please get in touch at ticketing@wheelercentre.com and we will resend them. If you are unable to find your ticket on the night, please let a Wheeler Centre staff member know and we will assist you.

The Wheeler Centre is home to eight different literary organisations (the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne Writers Festival, Writers Victoria, Emerging Writers’ Festival, Express Media, Small Press Network, Australian Poetry and the City of Literature Office). It is also a venue that can be hired by external parties. You may be visiting to attend workshops or events held by any of these organisations, or an external hirer.

Most of the information on this page is specific to the larger Performance Space off the foyer area, and specific to events hosted by the Wheeler Centre.

If you are attending an event hosted by any of the resident organisations in another space, please contact that organisation. If you are attending an event hosted by an external hirer, please contact the hirer directly with any questions or to let them know your access needs. If you do not know how to contact them, please contact us at reception@wheelercentre.com and we can pass your message on.

We endeavour to make all our work as accessible to as many people as possible. If you have any access requirements not covered by this page, please do not hesitate to get in contact with us to discuss what we can do to accommodate you. Please get in touch via: reception@wheelercentre.com

  • We have a gender-neutral and accessible toilet in the foyer where our main event space is. This cubicle also contains a change table.
  • Assistance animals are welcome.
  • There is drinking water provided in the foyer.
  • Our space is heated and cooled with air-conditioning.
  • Carers and Companion Card holders are welcome at all of our events.
  • The Wheeler Centre’s events have unallocated seating. If you would like a reserved seat due to any of these access requirements (or any others), please include it in the space provided when making your booking, or contact us on ticketing@wheelercentre.com.
  • The foyer area can become busy, noisy and crowded immediately before an event and there are limited seats. If you need a seat, please contact a Wheeler Centre usher. We aim to open doors and allow patrons into the Performance Space around 20 minutes before the start time.
  • If you need space away from the crowd before, during or after an event, you are welcome to use our Level 3 library space. It is accessible via a lift and also via stairs. Please contact Wheeler Centre staff for directions/to be escorted up there.
  • Wheeler Centre events are subject to capacity. Once capacity is reached, we will not be able to allow anyone else into the space, even if a seat has been reserved for you in advance. If you will have trouble arriving on time but are definitely intending to attend, please let us know so that we can keep the seats aside for you.
  • The Wheeler Centre also holds events at other venues. For information about accessibility at external venues, please see our venues page.
  • We strive to make the Wheeler Centre a safe, welcoming space. If you feel uncomfortable or see ways in which we could improve our practice, please contact us by alerting a staff member on the night, or sending an email to reception@wheelercentre.com.

  • Tickets can be booked online – each event page has a link, ‘Book tickets’.
  • During the online booking process, you will have the option of letting us know your accessibility requirements and needs in a free-text box. You’ll be contacted to acknowledge your requirements by return email. Replies will come within a week of any event occurring. If you need to get in touch with us regarding access requirements outside of this time frame or on the day of the event, please contact us at ticketing@wheelercentre.com or call reception on (03) 9097 7809.
  • If you are unable to book your tickets online, please contact the Wheeler Centre reception on (03) 9097 7809.

Meet-up groups or group bookings

If you are attending as part of a group and someone else has made the booking, please feel free to contact us on reception@wheelercentre.com to ensure that your requirements have been communicated as part of that booking. We will endeavour to have your whole group sitting together in a place where all requirements can be accommodated. Please give us the name the booking will be under when you contact us.

  • We are located on the second floor of the Wheeler Centre building, accessible via a ramp as well as stairs. Our front doors are automatic and are 1.41 metres wide.
  • Our Performance Space doors are 1.84 metres wide.
  • The space is a long narrow space and chairs will be set out in rows, in a single block, with no centre aisle. The aisles on either side will be at least 1 meter wide.
  • The bathroom is 10.2 metres from our main space.
  • Our floor is flat and suitable for most wheelchairs and other mobility aids. There are no internal stairs in the foyer area or in our main space.
  • If you are in a wheelchair or have a mobility aid, please contact us on reception@wheelercentre.com and we will reserve a space for you and seats for your whole party up towards the front of the audience.

  • Assistance animals are welcome (drinking water provided on request).
  • The Wheeler Centre operates a hearing loop in our Performance Space, which allows patrons who are wearing a hearing aid to tune in to the frequency of the venue.
  • Each season, we select a number of our events to be Auslan-interpreted. This is advertised on the event page on the website. If you would like a reserved seat with full view of the interpreter, please let us know.
  • If you would like Auslan-interpretation at an additional event, we will provide it. Please make a note at the time of booking, or contact us on reception@wheelercentre.com. We require at least two weeks to confirm an interpreter. If you contact us closer to the event we will do our best, but may not be able to organise an interpreter in time.
  • If you are hard-of-hearing, we will reserve seats that are a few rows back from the front of the audience, as these are where the best sound is (sound can be quite bouncy in the front few rows). If you would prefer to sit in the front few rows in order to lip-read or for any other reason, please let us know.
  • Please note, the Wheeler Centre is in the middle of the city. As such, there will be city noises such as traffic, sirens, etc that are audible in the Performance Space. We are also directly above a café, and across the road from an industrial loading bay. Sounds of people talking or bottle-bins being emptied are often audible in the Performance Space.

  • Assistance animals are welcome (drinking water provided on request).
  • We can reserve you a seat towards the front of the venue – please let us know.

  • The foyer area can become busy, noisy and crowded immediately before an event and there are limited seats. If you need a seat, please contact a Wheeler Centre usher. We aim to open doors and allow patrons into the Performance Space around 20 minutes before the start time.
  • If you need space away from the crowd before, during or after an event, you are welcome to use our Level 3 library space. It is accessible via a lift and also via stairs. Please contact Wheeler Centre staff for directions/to be escorted up there.

  • The accessible/gender neutral toilet in the foyer area is designated fragrance-free.
  • If you need space away from the crowd before, during or after an event, you are welcome to use our Level 3 library space. It is accessible via a lift and also via stairs. Please contact Wheeler Centre staff for directions/to be escorted up there.

  • We encourage parents to bring babes in arms to our events.
  • Most of our content is not directed towards children unless otherwise stated (ie Wheeler Kids events). However, children are welcome to attend our events with their parents/guardians. If you are unsure about whether or not the content is suitable for your child, please contact us at reception@wheelercentre.com.
  • Parents are responsible for children in attendance at all Wheeler Centre events.

  • A First Aid kit is available backstage – Wheeler Centre staff can access this.
  • We encourage Wheeler Centre Front of House staff to be up to date on basic first-aid.
  • The nearest pharmacy is Priceline Pharmacy across the road at QV. This is open until 9pm Monday-Saturday, and 7pm on Sunday. Their phone number is (03) 9654 4470.
  • The nearest hospital is the Royal Melbourne Hospital at 300 Grattan St, Parkville. In an emergency, Wheeler Centre staff will contact Security at the State Library Victoria, who will call and direct an ambulance to the Wheeler Centre.

  • The Wheeler Centre does not generally provide food or drink at its public events.
  • At some events, there may be a bar where drinks can be purchased if desired. If there will be a bar, this information will be listed on the event page on the website.
  • Drinking water is available in the foyer.
  • You are welcome to bring your own hot or cold food and non-alcoholic drink.
  • Tobacco and unlawful drugs are not permitted to be used at the venue. You cannot bring your own alcohol to the venue.

If you require the assistance of a companion to access venues, please note the Wheeler Centre offers a second ticket to paid events at no cost to Companion Card holders (or similar) at the time of booking.

  • The Moat Café and Bar is on the ground floor of the Wheeler Centre building but is only accessible by stairs without arrangement. If you need to use the lift access, please come to the Wheeler Centre foyer and ask a Wheeler Centre staff member to swipe you down to the Moat in the lift.
  • If you need to access the Moat via the lift outside of the Wheeler Centre’s opening hours and events, please contact them directly on 9094 7820.

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Privacy Policy

The Wheeler Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Centre stands. We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their Elders, past and present, as the custodians of the world’s oldest continuous living culture.