QVMAG's 1.5 million objects will be catalogued in a database, and the community is invited to see some of the items usually hidden away behind locked doors.

Only 18 per cent of QVMAG's collection is recorded in its database, and the institution made headlines last year when it couldn't locate a Brett Whiteley painting estimated to be worth between $20,000 and $30,000.

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"We have now committed to digitally documenting every item - from the smallest of native fleas to the largest railway carriage - so that communities now and well into the future may treasure and learn from them," marketing and media coordinator Claire Campbell said.

The temporary exhibitions gallery at QVMAG's Royal Park site will be the audit space, and the community is invited to come and watch the curators work at any time during opening hours.

"After the collections are entered into the database, they can be uploaded to an online catalogue so that audiences around the world can research and engage with our wonderful material," Ms Campbell said.

Progress can be viewed at www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/CollectionAudit

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