Nillumbik University of the Third Age (U3A) welcomes retirees and semi-retirees to join our friendly community. We offer opportunities for members to engage in great learning, sporting, artistic and social activities without a need for formal educational qualifications – all that’s required is a love of learning and a friendly outlook.

 

Our newsletter

We send out regular newsletters (Gibber Gabbers) to around 1,900 people in total. You can read all these newsletters, dating back to 2012, on our newsletter page.

Our latest Gibber Gabber was sent out on 2nd February.

If you would like to submit an article for a future Gibber Gabber, or discuss the possibility of so doing, send an email to the editor.

If you are not a member but would like to receive these free newsletters yourself, just sign up.

Our 2025 classes

We currently run around 90 different courses each term. These cover a wide range of subjects including languages, physical activities, cards & puzzles, music, art, literature, history and science.

Enrol in classes.

Read our class timetable.

Read our course descriptions.

Our weekly 2025 classes started on 3rd February.

Our Office & new membership system

Our Office is at Eltham Central Pavilion, 18 Panther Place. Map. It is open (during term times only) on Mondays, 1-3pm and Thursdays, 10am-midday. Email: office@nillumbiku3a.org.au. Tel: 0468 300 764.

In March 2025, we are planning to move to a new computerised membership system called Member Wizard. This new system will make it easier for our members to enrol in classes, to see their membership and enrolment status, and to maintain their contact details. Read more about the ‎Member Wizard system.

Membership

Membership is open to all retired and semi-retired people and we have no age limits. We have around 900 members.

Our annual fee is just $55 a year and participation in classes is then free.

If not already a member, join us.

If a member, renew your membership for 2025.

Our upcoming events

Feb
23
Sun
The Diary of Anne Frank (play) @ Eltham Little Theatre
Feb 23 @ 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm

During 2025, Eltham Little Theatre are generously offering U3A members half price tickets for their Thursday evening and Sunday matinee shows. The dates for which this is applicable for The Diary of Anne Frank are Sunday, 23rd February and Thursday, 6th March.

In early 1945, a young girl died, alone, of typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. One of more than six million victims of the Nazi Holocaust, her fate would have remained unknown and anonymous, like so many of her fellow victims. Except for one important difference: this girl documented, through her diary, short stories and other musings, a life of fear and ever-present danger as she and her family hid form the Nazi occupation of wartime Amsterdam. Her name was Anne Frank. This is her story.

You can book either individual tickets or a table of 6. Tables can take their own food and drink.

Here are the mechanics: you book your tickets online. Choose the date, then either individual tickets or a full table of 6, then the number of ‘U3A member’ tickets, then enter the ‘2550’ discount code in the ‘gift certificate / promotion code’ box, then pay.

Feb
26
Wed
Adventures in archaeology in Turkey: ancient land and ancient peoples (Jan Bailey) @ Eltham Central Pavilion
Feb 26 @ 9:30 am – 11:00 am

Jan Bailey will describe the day-to-day life of an archaeologist on a dig. Two cultures will be discussed: the Kura Araxes group of people who were present in the region for more than 1,500 years, from around 3000 BC; and the Urartian Empire, which dominated the region for 250 years from approximately 900–600 BC, before they were wiped out by the Scythians.

Jan is a retired teacher from the tertiary sector, who has long been a passionate student of archaeology, achieving her Bachelor of Arts (Honours – Archaeology) as a mature-age student.

View calendar

Our class blogs

Many of our classes blog on this website, including our art classes, choir, golf, jazz appreciation, our walking groups and our writing groups.

Look at some of the art produced by our members.

Or read some of their poems.

Or stories from our Collaborative Writing Group, our Writing Workshop and others.

Nillumbik U3A is indebted to the following organisations for their financial contributions over the years.