I recommend avoiding the obvious and hiring a library space. It costs WAY less than most venues (venues = $30 p/hour on average. Library = $70 p/day!! on average; if you tell them you're a community group you can get the discounted price)

Libraries are regularly used for these purposes (the one in Carlton is my fav. as they are almost never booked on weekends), and they don't care what you do in the room so long as it's relatively quiet and you clean up afterwards.

I would keep in mind that most places require a minimum booking; some ask more than 1 hour.

But if you must hire a space, try ACOPA (an ad was recently placed on this site for it) in Nth Melb., St Martins, or check out the Creative Spaces website for other suggestions: http://www.creativespaces.net.au/

(On a side note: casting will take you one hour? Wow, that's either really fast or really naive... )

Your source for handmade shadow puppets at
Puppets in Melbourne

Thank-you, I will try the library option. Yes, the casting will only take an hour as I only need to see a couple of actors.