Performance summary

The National Museum of Australia is a statutory authority within the Commonwealth Arts portfolio.

The Museum’s financial statements disclose an operating surplus of $2.128 million (budgeted deficit $1.199 million). The budgeted deficit relates to the unfunded depreciation of heritage and cultural assets. Total income for 2017–18 was $53.157 million (budgeted $48.158 million) while total expenses were $51.029 million (budgeted $49.357 million).

Revenue from government was $43.044 million (budgeted $41.444 million) and revenue from other sources amounted to $10.113 million (budgeted $6.714 million). This includes gains from donated assets valued at $0.226 million. Revenue from non-government sources decreased by $0.121 million compared with 2016–17. This is due to decreased revenue from special exhibitions compared with the previous year.

Total expenses were $1.048 million more than the previous year. This was due to increased employee expenses for development of the Cultural and Corporate Shared Services Centre.

The Museum received an equity injection of $1.921 million to fund collection development and acquisitions.

Cash as at 30 June 2018 totalled $2.416 million (30 June 2017: $0.900 million), and investments totalled $34.000 million (30 June 2017: $40.000 million).

Financial summary 2017–18

The National Museum of Australia’s annual report is prepared in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014, and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

To demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the enhanced Commonwealth performance framework, this year’s annual report focuses on reporting results against the performance criteria described in both:

• the annual Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) for 2017–18
• the Museum’s Corporate Plan 2017–18.

The report also complies with requirements specified in the Museum’s establishing legislation and key policy documents.

The Museum’s PBS outcome is to ensure:

Increased awareness and understanding of Australia’s history and culture by managing the National Museum’s collections and providing access through public programs and exhibitions. (National Museum of Australia, Portfolio Budget Statements, 2017–18)

This outcome is achieved through the delivery of the program that supports the Museum’s PBS outcome:

Program 1.1: Collection management, research, exhibitions and programs

Objectives

Over the course of the next four years, the National Museum of Australia will:

• take a lead role in researching, documenting and expressing the nation’s history, and embrace innovative and contemporary approaches to draw public attention to the Museum’s work
• develop, manage and preserve the Museum’s collections, diversify the nation’s history and bring it to life through storytelling and custodianship
• build audiences and communities of interest through strong education, public and membership programs
• continue the strong visitor growth that the Museum has experienced by delivering innovative exhibitions that drive visitation nationally and internationally
• undertake major redevelopment works of open spaces and permanent galleries.

External influences

Like other cultural institutions, the Museum needs to adapt to the challenges of changing social, economic and political contexts by:

• championing the Museum’s role in promoting and preserving Australia’s cultural heritage
• enhancing the attraction of the Museum’s Canberra site, through redevelopment of external entry areas and internal galleries and visitor experiences
• extending the Museum’s international profile through expanding its current touring program and partnerships with international organisations
• engaging with new technologies to better serve the Museum’s audiences, including expanding the Museum’s platform of collection digitisation initiatives to support collection access and online engagement
• ensuring best-practice standards across the Museum, including collection management and acquisitions, research, and exhibition delivery, both domestic and international
• maintaining efficient use of financial and human resources.

Deliverables

During 2017–18 the Museum:

• displayed the critically acclaimed, Indigenous-led Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters exhibition, the most successful Indigenous exhibition mounted by the Museum, and recognised by the Museums and Galleries National Awards as the outstanding exhibition of the year, winning the prestigious Best in Show award
• delivered an innovative program of temporary and travelling exhibitions including Midawarr/Harvest: The Art of Mulkun Wirrpanda and John Wolseley; ‘So That You Might Know Each Other’: Faith and Culture in Islam; The Art of Science: Baudin’s Voyagers 1800–1804; Evolution: Torres Strait Masks; A Change Is Gonna Come; and Towers of Tomorrow: LEGO Bricks
• acquired key objects for its collections including one of the last Holdens manufactured in Australia, the Love Wheels crochet-covered bicycle associated with the marriage equality postal vote campaign, and Sir Jack Brabham’s prototype racing car
• continued to strengthen its own-source revenue, including funding sourced through philanthropic and sponsorship arrangements, notably receiving a generous contribution from John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel through their philanthropic foundation, Gandel Philanthropy
• progressed its ambitious program of gallery redevelopment, completing a major refurbishment of the Gandel Atrium, starting design work on the Life in Australia and Discovery Centre projects and commencing redevelopment works in the Museum’s Forecourt
• launched new interactive and multimedia experiences for visitors, and exceeded its target for engagements with online audiences via its website and social media channels
• introduced the Emmy-award winning Collisions and Space Descent virtual reality experiences to 25,930 people
• continued its popular panel discussions associated with the Defining Moments in Australian History project
• extended access throughout Australian and overseas to the National Historical Collection through key partnerships with national and international cultural institutions, including the Western Australian Museum, the South Australian Museum, and the National Museum of China
• supported the Australian Government’s cultural diplomacy initiatives via graphic panel displays delivered at 17 Australian diplomatic posts and other venues throughout the world, in association with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
• delivered facilitated face-to-face and digital education programs linked to the Australian Curriculum to 38,607 students and professional development sessions for 485 teachers
• welcomed 251,504 people to a diverse range of public programs
• played a leading role in repatriation projects including the return of the ancestral remains known as ‘Mungo Man’ to the Willandra Repatriation Traditional Owners Committee
• expanded the reach of the Cultural and Corporate Shared Services Centre (CCSSC) by bringing on board the National Portrait Gallery and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). The CCSSC provides corporate support tailored to the needs of partner agencies and enables them to focus their resources on delivering core cultural business priorities.

The Museum’s performance statements for 2017–18 are set out in full in Part Two of this annual report.