The Museum’s collection management, research, exhibitions and programs aim to achieve the outcome of increasing awareness and understanding of Australia’s history and culture. The Museum does this by:
- conducting activities to ensure it has a relevant and high quality collection of objects and associated material. This includes maintaining the collection in appropriate condition, and ensuring it is available to be used in exhibitions and other programs
- conducting activities that allow visitors to access objects in the collection, or information about objects and Australian history and cultures, through the provision of exhibitions and programs online in Australia and overseas
- undertaking research to enhance awareness of Australian history and cultures, and maintaining a print and web publishing program for the public.
The annual PBS specify performance measures for the Museum for acquisitions, storage of the National Historical Collection, conservation treatments, documentation of the collection, access to the collection and visitor satisfaction levels.
Performance summary
In 2012–13, the Office for the Arts introduced a set of standard key performance indicators for those cultural institutions within the Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport portfolio.
| No. | Key performance indicator | 2012–13 target | Actuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 | Number of paid on-site visits | 44,111 | 42,948 |
| 1.1.2 | Number of unpaid on-site visits | 502,179 | 512,277 |
| 1.2.2 | Number of on-site visits by preschool students | 1000 | 295 |
| 1.2.3 | Number of on-site visits by primary school students | 67,000 | 72,358 |
| 1.2.4 | Number of on-site visits by secondary school students | 16,000 | 14,194 |
| 1.2.5 | Number of on-site visits by post-secondary education students | 300 | 416 |
| 1.3.1 | Number of visits to the website | 1,017,000 | 1,550,750 |
| 1.3.2 | Number of page views to the website | 3,036,000 | 3,343,891 |
| 1.4 | Number of off-site visits to the organisation (travelling exhibitions) | 175,000 | 85,186 |
| 3.1 | Number of formal overseas initiatives | 4 | 4 |
| 3.2 | Number of other overseas initiatives | 400 | 174 |
| 4.1 | Operational funding (as a % of total funds from operations and government) | 86% | 86% |
| 4.2 | Capital funding from government (as a % of total funds from operations and government) | 4% | 4% |
| 4.3 | Cash sponsorship income (as a % of total funds from operations and government) | - | - |
| 4.4 | Other cash fundraising income (as a % of total funds from operations and government) | - | - |
| 4.5 | Other income (as a % of total funds from operations and government) | 10% | 10% |
| 5.1 | Expenditure on collection development (as a % of total expenditure) | 13% | 12% |
| 5.2 | Expenditure on other capital items (as a % of total expenditure) | 16% | 18% |
| 5.3 | Expenditure on other (i.e. non-collection development) labour costs (as a % of total expenditure) | 32% | 31% |
| 5.4 | Other expenses (as a % of total expenditure) | 41% | 39% |
| 7.1.1 | Number of acquisitions in the reporting period | 1700 | 2419 |
| 7.2.1 | Total number of objects accessioned in the reporting period | 900 | 821 |
| 7.2.2 | Total number of objects awaiting accessioning at the end of the reporting period | 12,000 | 12,798 |
| 7.2.3 | % of total objects (acquired in the reporting period) accessioned | 5% | <1% |
| 7.3.1 | % of total collection available to the public | 47% | 46% |
| 7.3.2 | % of total collection available to the public online | 42% | 42.5% |
| 7.3.3 | % of total collection available to the public on display | 4% | 3% |
| 7.3.4 | % of total collection available to the public on tour | 1% | ≤1% |
| 7.4.1 | % of total objects assessed/condition checked in the reporting period | 1.3% | 2.53% |
| 7.4.2 | % of total objects conserved in the reporting period for preparation for display or digitisation | 0.1% | 0.37% |
| 7.4.3 | % of total objects treated for preservation purposes only in the reporting period | 0.2% | 1.54% |
| 7.5 | % of the total collection digitised | 54% | 85% |
| 8.1 | Number of people participating in public programs | 25,640 | 27,541 |
| 8.2 | Number of people participating in school programs | 84,300 | 87,263 |