Policies and plans

The Museum has a comprehensive suite of policies and plans. These are monitored and reviewed at regular intervals and made publicly available on the Museum’s website. Five of the Museum’s published policies or plans require reporting of activities or performance in the Museum’s 2017–18 Annual Report: the Partner Recognition and Sponsorship Policy, the Donor Recognition Policy, the Reconciliation Action Plan, the Indigenous Australian Art Charter of Principles for Publicly Funded Collecting Institutions, and the Client Service Charter.

According to the Partner Recognition and Sponsorship Policy and the Donor Recognition Policy, the Museum publicly acknowledges all corporate partners and donors in the annual report.

Support from corporations, organisations and foundations

The National Museum of Australia acknowledges and thanks the following corporations, organisations and foundations for their support during 2017–18:

ABC RN
ACT Government VisitCanberra
Australia Council for the Arts
The Australian Government International Exhibitions
Insurance Program
Australian National University
Botanics on Jardine
Canberra Times
Capital Wines
Clonakilla Wines
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Gordon Darling Foundation
Kindred Spirits Foundation
Macquarie Group
Minter Ellison
National Collecting Institutions Touring and Outreach
Program — Department of Communications and
the Arts
The Pratt Foundation
Premium Beverages
QT Canberra
The Rossi Foundation
The Scully Fund

Support from individuals and groups

The Museum acknowledges and thanks all donors who
have contributed significantly to activities, fundraising
programs and the Museum’s collection.

Perpetual Governor ($1 million and above)

John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel
Geoff Ford OAM and Kerrie Ford
Wayne and Vicki McGeoch

Life Governor ($500,000–$999,999)

Diana Boyd
Jim Maple-Brown AM and Pamela Maple-Brown

Governor ($100,000–$499,999)

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton
Professor Graeme Clark AC
Edward Frank Everitt and Eric George
Christopher Hodges and Helen Eager
Richard (Dick) Kimber
John Moriarty AM and Ros Moriarty
Sidney Sinclair
The Dick and Pip Smith Foundation
The Prince’s Trust Australia
The Scully Fund

Major Benefactor ($50,000–$99,999)

Robin Bryant
Joel and Margaret Cowey
Jack Gallaway
The Gibson family
The Australia Council for the Arts
The Gordon Darling Foundation
The Pratt Foundation

Benefactor ($10,000–$49,999)

Geoff and Fran Barker
Graeme and Linda Beveridge
Daryl D Blaxland
The Brideson family
Jean Clements
Professor Robert W Crompton AM
The Cuckson family
Ken Done AM
Dr Stephen and Sue Dyer
Dr Guy Fitzhardinge AM
Daniel Gilbert AM
Gwyn Gillard
Jeremy Gould
Professor Elery Hamilton-Smith AM
Alexander and Domitille Hartman
Susan and Grant Hilliard
Meredith Hinchliffe
The family of Raymond Arthur Holliday
Emeritus Professor Andrea Hull AO
Dr Anthea Hyslop
David Jones and Melinda Conrad
Carol and Richard Kemp
The Kennedy family
Maureen and Keith Kerridge
The late Patricia McCracken
The McCue family
Jan L Robertson
John and Pam Seccombe
Graham Smith
The family of the late Sir Alastair Stephen
Rex Stevenson AO and Caroline Stevenson
Michael Traill AM and Jenny Gage Traill
Norman and Joy Wheatley
Sally White OAM and Geoffrey White OAM
Kim Williams AM and Catherine Dovey
Tony Willsallen
Cameron Wright
Tania Young
Sidney Myer Fund
The Rossi Foundation

Fellow ($5000–$9999)

Margaret Anderson
Rena Estick and Rae Clarke
Marjorie Lindenmayer
Eloise Murphy
Archdeacon Anne Ranse
Kindred Spirits Foundation
Moyes Delta Gliders
Treviris Holdings
Royal Automobile Club of Australia

Patron ($1000–$4999)

Dr Marion Amies
Duncan Anderson
Rena Atkow
Elizabeth Bennett
Marc Besen AC
Keith Bradley AM and Kerry O’Kane
Nicole Bright
HM and JE Brown
Dr Geoffrey Burkhardt
Dorothy Cameron
Jeanette Carroll
Christine Clark
Mervyn and Shirley Cornish
Dr Mark Crees
Suzanne Curtis and Tony Gay
Graham Dash
Sarah Davies
Merrell Davis OAM
Haydn Daw and Susan Daw OAM
Patricia Degens
Jennifer Dobbin
Sandy Forbes
Kate Forner
Carolyn Forster OAM and Richard Forster
Andrew Freeman
Julian Goldenberg and Neta Saint
Alan and Andy Greenslade
Sally Grimes
Catherine Harris
Helen Harvie
Keith and Bruce Hearn
Dr Beth Heyde
Dr Marian Hill
Mark Huppert and Theresa Rowan
Dr Anthea Hyslop
Christine Jackson
Dr Joseph Johnson
Fiona Jose
Kasandra Karvelas
Yvonne Kilgour
Patricia Kneebone
Ailsa Lawton
Lady Jodie Leonard
Nicholas Lidstone
Merv McDonald
Ben and Marina Maguire
Catherine and Strat Mairs
Louise Muir
The late Professor John Mulvaney AO
Ron Muncaster
Simon Murnane
Michael Nicolazzo
Jim and Sophia Notaras
David Peck
Colin Percival
Andrew and Monica Phelan
Peter Pigott AM
Kirsten Pinnington
Brian Polden
The Pooley family
Dr Diana Quiggin
The Hon Margaret Reid AO
Dr Gary Reynolds
Mark Rolfe
Winnifred Rosser OAM
The Rutledge family in memory of Thomas Lloyd
Forster Rutledge
Margie Seale and David Hardy
Gwen and Terry Sharman
Dr Mathew Trinca
David and Linnett Turner
Andrew Tweedie
Michael Vaughan
Linda Wake
Peter and Liz Warner
Hilary White
Louise Willey
Ruth Wilson
Paul Winch
Kylie Winkworth
Colonel Craig and Suzanne Wood
Kaely and Mike Woods
Anton Wurzer
Moh Yan Yang
Cindy Young

Donors to the National Historical Collection

The National Historical Collection was greatly enhanced
during 2017–18 through the donation of objects by
anonymous givers and the following donors:

Jude Barlow
Tony Dare-Edwards
Maurice and Margery Douglas
Rena Estick and Rae Clarke
Professor Dennis Foley
Fujii family — Australia–Japan Foundation
Gwyn Gillard
James MR Hately and Lorraine Hately
Judith Hearn
Susan and Grant Hilliard
Deaconess Winifred Hilliard
The family of Raymond Arthur Holliday
The Howe Family
Christine Jackson
John Jobson
Janelle Marshall
Roy Muncaster
Eloise Murphy
Simon O’Mallons
Barbara Paulson
Archdeacon Anne Ranse
The Rutledge family in memory of Thomas Lloyd
Forster Rutledge
Jane A Salmon
Stephen Sprada
Anna Underwood
Michael and Georgia Underwood
Petronella Wensing OAM
Anton Wurzer
Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre
CSIRO Climate Science Centre
Ernabella Arts Inc.
Moyes Delta Gliders

In May 2015 the Museum launched its Innovate: Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). The Museum has made a commitment to report on RAP activities in its annual report. Its vision for reconciliation is to work closely with communities to create opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to contribute to, and participate in, the Museum’s programs. The Museum strives to show respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, value their culture and histories and be inclusive and welcoming to all. The Director, Deputy Director and senior executive members champion the Museum’s RAP, and participate as members of the RAP Working Group together with staff from all divisions of the Museum. The RAP Working Group includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people. The current RAP has been extended to 2018.

The RAP Working Group met four times during the reporting period, and has contributed to, or coordinated, the following activities against RAP targets:

• The Museum continues to acknowledge and promote significant anniversaries and events through social media and online, including through the Defining Moments in Australian History project and webpage.
• In 2017–18 the Museum exhibited the major exhibitions Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters and Midawarr/Harvest: The Art of Mulkun Wirrpanda and John Wolseley as well as working towards a major tour of Old Masters: Australia’s Great Bark Artists in the next financial year (see p. 25). The Museum has published companion books for each of these exhibitions. It continued to provide graphic-panel displays of works from the Old Masters: Australia’s Great Bark Artists exhibition, Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route, and Evolution: Torres Strait Masks to Australian diplomatic posts around the world (see p. 26).
• The Museum continues to demonstrate its commitment to reconciliation by promoting sustainable business practices for Indigenous artists. The merchandise range prepared for Songlines was developed with artists from the Martumili, Warakurna and Papulankutja art centres. Proceeds from the sales were shared between the artists and the Museum, setting an example of the ethical development and retail of Australian Indigenous products.
• In September 2015 the Museum advised the Australian Public Service Commission that it was nominating an Indigenous employment target of five per cent. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed by the Museum was 11 employees at 30 June 2017, representing 4.5 per cent of Museum staff.

One of the key commitments in the Museum’s RAP is continued support for the Museum Indigenous Network (MINmin). Membership of MINmin is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. The purpose of MINmin, as expressed in its mandate, is to support Indigenous employees in their role at the Museum, both socially and in the workplace. MINmin recognises the unique challenges that face Indigenous Australian museum professionals and works towards creating positive and collaborative futures for Indigenous employees in the cultural sector.

The Museum’s commitment to promoting a diverse workplace culture as embodied in the RAP is further evidenced in its commitment to developing a workforce of employees who reflect the broad spectrum of Australian communities. Through the Diversity Action Plan, the Museum develops and implements strategies to ensure that the Museum celebrates and values diversity, creates a fair and respectful workplace culture, and builds and retains diverse capabilities and experiences. The Museum has progressed a number of diversity initiatives this year, including:

• ongoing proactive support and return-to-work programs for ill and injured staff
• embracing a flexible workplace environment that caters for staff needs
• identifying and creating special measures or identified positions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• embedding accessibility considerations into projects
• increasing staff awareness of accessibility issues
• encouraging staff to participate in multicultural activities and celebrations.

The Museum endorsed the Indigenous Australian Art Charter of Principles for Publicly Funded Collecting Institutions by publishing it on its website.

The Museum has embedded the obligations and commitments outlined in the charter into all relevant areas of museological practice, most notably through the incorporation of due diligence and consultation requirements in its collection acquisition procedures, and through the development and adoption of the Indigenous Cultural Rights and Engagement Policy.

Museum activities continue to conform to the Indigenous Cultural Rights and Engagement Policy, which was approved by Council in 2015. Indigenous cultural and intellectual property (ICIP) refers to Indigenous peoples’ rights to their heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression, and the policy aims to:

• recognise and respect Indigenous peoples’ rights to access, maintain and control the use of their cultural heritage
• outline how the Museum engages with Indigenous peoples, their cultural heritage and its associated rights, including through appropriate interpretation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage within the Museum
• give public acknowledgement to the value of ICIP and to reinforce the Museum’s support for the recognition of ICIP rights
• establish a transparent feedback and complaints process regarding the Museum’s engagement with Indigenous peoples and its dealings with ICIP.

The Indigenous Cultural Rights and Engagement Policy is publicly available on the Museum’s website, and a training package has been developed to raise awareness and engage staff in understanding and applying the principles where relevant to their work.

The Museum’s Client Service Charter is available to the public on the Museum’s website. The Museum has committed to publishing a summary of its performance against the charter each year in its annual report.

During 2017–18, the Museum received 489 written comments from visitors using the visitor feedback form, email or social media. Most feedback comments took the form of general remarks, questions or suggestions. The comments covered a range of enquiries related to exhibitions, programs and events, Museum Cafe bookings and venue hire, school and educational tours, conservation of items, object donations, historical event/ object curatorial research, requests to use copyright material, and retail (both in-store and online) products.

Approximately 74 per cent of feedback was positive, referring to the Museum’s staff, services, galleries and exhibitions. Negative feedback accounted for about 13 per cent of comments and related to exhibitions, programs, services and facilities. The remaining 13 per cent of comments were questions or recommendations.

Monthly reports on feedback received are prepared and reviewed by CMG and EMG, allowing for key issues to be addressed at a high level.