Accessibility

The Wheeler Centre is located at 176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

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.

For a more detailed description of the venue (including audio), click here.

Public Transport

Train

The nearest train station is Melbourne Central (170 metres from the Wheeler Centre entrance). Access out of the train station is via a lift. Melbourne Central Station is directly opposite the State Library’s front entrance. Most metropolitan trains stop at this station. If you’re travelling from regional Victoria, you can transfer from your regional train to a metropolitan train at Southern Cross or North Melbourne stations.

Tram

Trams can be caught from the superstop outside the State Library on Swanston Street, between Little Lonsdale and LaTrobe Streets. Other nearby stops include those a block away, at the corners of Elizabeth and LaTrobe Streets.

The nearest tram stops are:

• Swanston Street, stop 8 outside Melbourne Central/State Library Victoria (routes 1-6, 16, 64, 67, 72) (110 metres from the Wheeler Centre entrance)
• La Trobe Street, stop 7, (routes 30, 35) (220 metres from the Wheeler Centre entrance)

Bus

The nearest bus stops are located on Lonsdale, Russell and Exhibition Streets.

Bicycle

There are several bike racks close to The Wheeler Centre where you can lock up your bike. There’s also a Melbourne Bike Share station at the corner of Swanston and Little Lonsdale Streets, where you can hire or return a shared bike.

Taxi

The nearest taxi rank is on Elizabeth Street, outside Melbourne Central. Several private tricycle taxi companies also operate in Melbourne’s CBD.

Parking

Parking is available at QV and Melbourne Central shopping centres, both nearby, for a fee.

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 two disabled parking spaces on Little Lonsdale Street (just east of the Swanston Street corner), and three disabled parking spaces on Latrobe Street between Swanston and Russell Streets – all with two-hour limits during weekday business hours. (Please note that The Wheeler Centre is not accessible via State Library Victoria). 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

For more information about car parking in the city, visit the City of Melbourne’s website.

• 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 via ticketing@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 via ticketing@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.

The Wheeler Centre offers Companion Card holders one complimentary ticket to attend with a companion. These are available 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.