Welcome to the Ballarat Hackerspace!

We are a non-profit community group dedicated to providing education and resources to encourage skills in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM). The Ballarat Hackerspace provides tools, connections, community and other resources to help improve the skills of its members and the community, as well as encourage a culture of participating in technology advances, rather than passively using them.

We run casual social sessions, regular workshops, community meetups, and encourage growth in the community in the broader Victorian goldfields region.

We are generally open for public walk-ins on Tuesday evenings, Friday daytimes and Saturday daytimes. Come in for a chat, participate in show and tell, share some knowledge, or just tinker on your own projects — no matter how BIG or small, and no matter your skill level. You do not need to be a member to pop in and check the place out.

Why you should join our community

The Ballarat Hackerspace facilitates learning and creating with technology. If we can help you learn a new skill or make a thing, we'd love to welcome you.

We are a mostly self-guided community - our members generally are self motivated to learn and to do, with the community available to share skills, help solve problems and provide resources.

You should join the Ballarat Hackerspace if you want to build things, improve your skills and join a like-minded community.

We really do take people from a wider variety of skill levels - whether you are a seasoned veteran, or haven't even started programming/electronics, the Ballarat Hackerspace can help you on your journey.

Some members come to us with a project they would like to do already, other members are looking for projects (and we have plenty of good projects).

If you are looking for partnerships, get in touch. We've developed tutorials, courses and workshops for the City of Ballarat, Federation University Australia and other organisations in areas like 3D printing, IoT (Internet of Things) and future technology.

Finding Us

We are located on the Federation University SMB Campus (campus map, pdf). We're on the top floor of Building K (also the location of the Ballarat Tech School). Our main door is at the top of the stairs on the south side of that building (between Building K and Building I) or there is disabled access via the lift on the corner facing Albert Street. If you get lost trying to find us just send us a tweet and we'll send out a search party!

Live Stream

Live view from the Ballarat Hackerpace looking over Ballarat City. Stream is only run as best effort and so it might not be up and running 100% of the time. If it's offline for a long period ping us on twitter and we'll look into it.