[2] It was not until three years after Cyclone Tracy that in 1977 the Commonwealth Government approved construction of a new museum at Bullocky Point in the suburb of Fannie Bay.

Construction commenced on the new museum in 1979 after the Northern Territory was granted self-government, and funding for the new building was confirmed.

The building was opened on 10 September 1981 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen, and was known as the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences.

It tells the story of the Northern Territory's World War II history, in particular the Bombing of Darwin in 1942, through interactive multimedia displays.

[3] The MAGNT manages the Museum of Central Australia and Strehlow Research Centre at the Araluen Arts Precinct in Alice Springs.

On 16 June 2015, the Northern Territory Government announced plans to refurbish the historic Chan Building in the centre of Darwin, as a world-class visual arts museum to be managed by the MAGNT.