Sir David Attenborough has influenced the entire planet in the course of his century of existence. As he turns 100 on 8 May 2026, Kim McKay AO, Director of the Australian Museum, writes about the time she hosted David in Sydney for the museum’s 190th birthday.
Sitting next to Sir David Attenborough, then a sprightly 90-year-old, at a lunch in his honour at the Australian Museum in 2017, I marvelled at the way he responded to the overly enthusiastic admirers who clambered around him. He calmly posed for each selfie, listened carefully to each anecdote, signed autographs and gracefully smiled throughout each encounter. I couldn’t help but be reminded of that now iconic footage of Sir David surrounded by gorillas in Rwanda, when the world witnessed his ability to create rapport, ease and connection in a challenging setting.
On that same visit, to announce his Lifetime Patronage of the Australian Museum and mark our 190th anniversary, I also glimpsed Sir Davíd’s unguarded self when we introduced him to visiting school children. His face lit up with genuine amusement and affection as they joyfully whooped and gathered around him, as you would a dearly trusted grandparent, boisterously sharing their favourite moments from his adventures. It was a poignant moment with the man who makes us all feel alive with childlike wonder as he explains nature as no one else is able.
Sir David turns 100 this year, on 8 May, and our lives are all the better for his century of contribution to our world.
Sir David Attenborough and the Australian Museum have enjoyed a relationship spanning more than 45 years, from the lectures he hosted for members in the 1980s, to exploring the museum’s collection of ancient fish fossils at Canowindra, in NSW, and filming at the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station for his Great Barrier Reef documentary series.
Sir David’s face lit up with genuine amusement and affection as the children joyfully whooped and gathered around him.
In 2017, when he became the Australian Museum’s Lifetime Patron, we also named the newly identified Tasmanian semi slug after him, Attenborougharion rubicundus, which he said might be the “most beautiful slug in the world”.
When it came to his much-anticipated address at the luncheon, he used the moment not to remind us of his own contributions and career, but rather to impress upon the audience that the Australian Museum, as the nation’s first museum, should not be underestimated, given its history as a pillar of knowledge and national identity.
He solemnly told us that the museum “… had the extraordinary and unique responsibility of starting the first systematic collection of the animals and plants of an entire continent”. And went on to note that the Australian Museum is today “a scientific centre of world importance”.
After that visit, the team walked taller. Knowing that Sir David understood and valued our work gave us all renewed purpose. His endorsement was a reminder that every specimen carefully preserved, field trip endured, species painstakingly described, and science explained and communicated contributes to humanity’s understanding of the astonishing planet we call home. This work is undertaken every day at the museum, yet rarely given such a spotlight.
Sir David remains humble, sharp and in good humour as he approaches this milestone birthday.
The Australian Museum’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Professor Tim Flannery, another tireless advocate for the planet, remains close to Sir David and met with him last year. Tim shared with me that Sir David remains humble, sharp and in good humour as he approaches this milestone birthday. He is not keen to participate in public ceremonies and receive accolades, preferring instead to quietly celebrate at home with his family.
That’s fair enough, as Sir David’s message is loud and clear in the awe-inspiring work he continues to develop. Perhaps no more so than the recently released Ocean documentary or indeed the miraculous 360-degree immersive cinematic experience Our Story, which I recently had the privilege of viewing at London’s Natural History Museum.
Our Story is a remarkable experience for viewers, and it might even be his best work, centring Sir David’s singular voice, with its reassuringly familiar, mellifluous tone, to carefully remind us that we are not separate from nature, but very much a part of it.
In doing so, he has given us a gift but also a warning: the knowledge that our fate is tied to the fate of every creature on Earth, along with the inspiration to do something about it. He has spent a century making that case with patience, precision and an undiminished wonder. Through his vigilant dedication to communicating nature, he has given us hope in the face of a changing climate.
On behalf of the Australian Museum, we wish our Lifetime Patron a very happy 100th birthday. His superpower was always as simple as being genuinely enthusiastic about the world around him and that enthusiasm, across a century of life, has changed the way we view and understand the world.
As the Australian Museum looks to mark its own 200th anniversary next year, there is something rather wonderful in knowing our Lifetime Patron is almost half the age of the Australian institution he champions.
Kim McKay AO is Director and CEO of the Australian Museum
