Mechanics' institutes of Australia

Mechanics' institutes were a Victorian-era institution set up primarily to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working-class men, which spread to the corners of the English-speaking world, including the Australian colonies, where they were set up in virtually every colony. In some places, notably throughout the colonies of Queensland and New South Wales, they were often known as schools of arts.

Most institutes incorporated a library, and many of the old institutes evolved into public lending libraries, while others were converted for other uses or demolished to make way for modern buildings. This article includes a list of many past mechanics' institutes / schools of arts.