Visitors Guide to the ATNF Headquarters

Contents

This guide is intended for visitors to the headquarters of the Australia Telescope National Facility, located in Marsfield, Sydney. This site is shared with the CSIRO's Data61 group.


Contacting the ATNF

Postal address:
Australia Telescope National Facility
CSIRO
PO Box 76
Epping NSW 1710
Australia

Courier/street address:
Australia Telescope National Facility
CSIRO
26 Pembroke Road
Marsfield NSW 2122
Australia

Telephone:
+61-2-9372-4222

Email and web addresses:
Site visit and accommodation enquiries: accommodation@atnf.csiro.au
Site visit and accommodation bookings: https://visit.atnf.csiro.au/
General enquiries: S&Aenquiries@csiro.au
ATNF main website: www.atnf.csiro.au

How to get to Marsfield

All international visitors must have a valid passport and visa to enter Australia.

For holiday visits or short business trips to Australia (up to three months), you may be able to obtain a visa via the internet - refer to Visas to Visit Australia on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs' website. Alternatively, please contact your nearest Australian Consulate, Embassy or High Commission.

Marsfield is a residential suburb about 25 km north-west of the centre of Sydney. The Australia Telecope is situated on the CSIRO site which is at the corner of Vimiera and Pembroke Roads in Marsfield. The main entrance is in Pembroke Road.

There are several ways to get to the Australia Telescope from Sydney's Kingsford-Smith Airport.

Train

Take a train to the city, then a train to Epping Station or Macquarie University Station, then a bus to the Marsfield site.

A train departs from the airport for Central Railway Station every 15 minutes. At Central Station, change trains to Epping Station on the T1 line, or catch a train to Macquarie University on the Metro North West line..

From Epping station take the bus along Epping Road. Routes 288, 289 or 290 to the city leave from the east side of the station. Get off the bus at Vimiera Road, cross Epping Road and walk along Vimiera Road on the other side. You will see the site on the corner with Pembroke Road.

Site Security

The Marsfield site is secured by a controlled access system. To access the building after normal hours you will need to obtain an access card from the Accommodation Manager.

The Vimiera and Pembroke Road gates are open from 7:00 to 18:00 on weekdays only. At all other times entry to the site requires use of an access card. The front entrance of the building is open on weekdays between 8:30 and 17:00. Most other entrances to the building are also open at these times. However, please note that it is advisable to carry the access card at all times.

Clothing

Sydney's coldest month is usually July, (~2-12 Celsius); the hottest months are December-February (~30 Celsius with high humidity). Temperatures in excess of 40 Celsius can occur through the summer period.

Dress rules at the Australia Telescope are not rigid; jeans and shorts are commonly worn. Jogging shoes are acceptable footwear. Closed-in shoes are required for safety reasons.

Marsfield computing facilities

The ATNF is well supplied with computing facilities. Please refer to the Getting Started Guide on the ATNF internal web site.

Marsfield on-site accommodation

The Marsfield Lodge is on the ATNF site and has six single and two double bedrooms (each with an ensuite bathroom), a communal lounge/kitchen area, and laundry and ironing facilities. The Lodge is often fully booked and it is advisable to book accommodation well in advance. The check-in time at the Marsfield Lodge is 12:00 noon or later. Please check out before 10:00 am. 

As from 1 September 2022, the rate at the Marsfield Lodge, for a single or double room, is A$85.00 a night (bed and breakfast supplies). A 50% discount is available for students. This price includes the Goods and Services Tax (GST). This applies for all accommodation accounts and is shown on invoices. There is no charge for ATNF staff members and their families, or for ATNF-affiliated students. The Lodge rooms are cleaned prior to each new arrival. Guests are provided with clean towels every second day. For visitors staying longer than a week, linen is changed on a weekly basis. If you have any special requirements please contact the Accommodation Manager. The kitchen is fully equipped and there are fridges, freezers and cupboards for visitors to store their own food.

Please make payments for Marsfield Lodge Accommodation to the Accommodation Manager in the SOC. You must pay for your accommodation before departing the Marsfield site. We accept Visa and MasterCard and EFTPOS payments. Please note that we do NOT accept cash payments.

On-site accommodation is also provided at the Marsfield Cottage. This is a three-bedroom cottage on the Marsfield site which is used primarily for distinguished visitors on extended visits to the Marsfield site. The rate of the cottage from 1 September 2022 is A$690.00 per week.

Other accommodation

Accommodation is also available at a number of nearby university colleges. These usually provide room and breakfast; charges vary, depending on the college. Links to the College websites can be found in link below.

For short-term visitors, accommodation can be arranged at nearby motels; costs start at typically A$175 a night. Here is a list of other accommodation in the area.

For information on accommodation at the Parkes and Narrabri Observatories, please see the Astronomers Guide to the Narrabri Observatory and the Parkes Radio Telescope Users Guide.

Please send enquiries on accommodation to accommodation@atnf.csiro.au

Shops, banks and cinemas

Shops

To shop for food, there is a large supermarket called Woolworths. This is located on the corner of Epping and Balaclava Roads and is open from Monday to Saturday: 7:00am - midnight, and on Sunday from 7:00 - 10:00pm

For other shopping, most things (including food) can be found at the Macquarie Shopping Centre, number 6 on the map. Buses run frequently to Macquarie Shopping Centre from Epping Road. Take bus number 288, 289 or 290 going towards the city. Confirm with the driver that he is going to Macquarie Shopping Centre.

Banks

The four largest banks in Australia are the Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and National Banks. These have branches in the city centres and in suburbs and towns. The standard working hours for banks are from 9.30 am until 4.30 pm. The nearest banks to the Marsfield Headquarters are located near the Epping railway station and in the Macquarie Shopping Centre.

All the banks operate a large number of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) which are available at the banks and in shopping centres. The ATMs are available 24 hours a day and are usually the easiest way to obtain cash. ATMs accept many different types of internationally recognised cards including Maestro and Cirrus.

Many shops and restaurants in Australia will accept payment using credit cards or EFTPOS. Visa, American Express and Mastercard are among the most widely accepted credit cards. Note that some places will not accept Diners Cards.

Cinemas

The nearest cinemas to Marsfield are the Greater Union Cinemas, located at the Macquarie Shopping Centre (Number 6 on the Marsfield map), Ph: 13 3456. A number of cinemas are located in George Street in the city, near the Town Hall railway station. For details of Greater Union movie sessions see their web site.

Transport Information

Information on trains, buses and ferries is available from the Transport Information line, tel 131 500. Buses run frequently along Epping Road to Epping and the city. There are timetables for the Epping-City buses in the Lodge. The train from Epping station to the city takes between 25 and 40 minutes.

Taxis

To call a taxi telephone TAXIS COMBINED SERVICES, Ph: 8332 8888. You will be asked to state the destination you require, the number of many passengers and whether you are ready for pick-up. Tell the taxi company that the taxi should wait at the reception area at the Pembroke Road entrance, or at the Pembroke Road gate if after hours. If a taxi fails to arrive, call TAXIS COMBINED SERVICES again and ask when it is coming.

Emergency contact information

Dial 0 to get an outside line

Fire/Police/Ambulance Ph: 0 - 000

After hours emergencies

Lodge Manager
Vicki Drazenovic, +61 (02) 9372 4272

Macquarie Medical Centre         

Located on Level 2.
Ph: 9878 6666
See their website for opening hours.

Ryde Hospital and Community Health Services
37 Fourth Avenue, Eastwood
Ph: 9858 0686

After Hours Dental Emergency Service
Ph: 9962 6557

Directory Assistance - Ph: 1223

www.yellowpages.com.au - the commercial telephone guide

www.whitepages.com.au - the personal and commercial telephone guide

Emergency fire information

In the event of fire an alarm will be clearly audible throughout all site buildings, including the SOC. The alarm has two stages - a repetitive "beep beep ..." that means "Alert", and a rising "whoop whoop ..." that means "Evacuate now!"

Procedure for outside normal working hours:

1. If you hear any fire alarm outside normal working hours leave the building as quickly as possible through the nearest exit. Don't worry about whether it's the "Alert" or the "Evacuate" sound - just go!

2. Encourage anyone else in the building to evacuate with you.

3. Head for the main site assembly point - the grassed area adjacent to the Visitor car-park and on-site accommodation.

4. If you believe there is a real fire and you are able to call Emergency Services on 000 to report it, please do so. But this is not essential as the Fire Brigade will already be on their way.

5. Any fire alarm will automatically summon the NSW Fire Brigade who will arrive in 5-10 minutes. They will advise you when it is safe to return to the building. Do no re-enter the building until advised to do so.

6. If you able to do so, call either of the numbers displayed on the main site gate and inform the person who answers that the CSIRO Marsfield fire alarm has gone off.

Procedure for normal working hours:

1. If you hear the "Alert" sound ("beep beep ..."), listen for and follow any announcements from local staff over the PA system.

2. As soon as you hear the "Evacuate" sound ("whoop whoop ...") leave the building as quickly as possible through the nearest exit.

3. If safe to do so encourage others in the vicinity to evacuate too.

4. Head for the main site assembly point - the grassed area adjacent to the Visitor car-park and on-site accommodation.

5. Do not re-enter the building until instructed to do so by local emergency staff.

Maps

Map of New South Wales (GIF image, 240 kbytes).

Map of Sydney (GIF image, 360 kbytes).

Map of Marsfield/Epping area (GIF image, 368 kbytes).

Annotations for Marsfield/Epping map.

Marsfield site map (pdf file).

 

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