Strategic priority 3: Listen and act

OUR TARGETS

• Produce a range of resources, programs and activities as part of the Defining Moments in Australian History project.
• Deliver dynamic and curriculum-linked school programs to primary, secondary and tertiary students.
• Deliver tailored public and outreach programs for access, adults, families and children.

MEASURES

• Review first three years of Defining Moments in Australian History project, and develop forward plan for 2018–21.
• Over 92,000 education program interactions.
• Over 112,000 public program interactions.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

The first three years of the Defining Moments in Australian History project were reviewed, and the results informed the development of the forward plan for 2018–21.

During 2017–18, participation in education and public programs was 339,247:

• 87,743 participants in education programs
• 251,504 participants in public programs.

Analysis

Defining Moments in Australian History

During 2017–18, activity associated with the Defining Moments in Australian History project continued. Defining Moments was launched in August 2014 and aims to stimulate public discussion about the events that have been of profound significance to Australians. The Museum maintains a dedicated and continually growing web presence for the project (see Online participation and engagement), as well as publishing a series of articles in the Museum magazine. Work also commenced on the Defining Moments Digital Classroom, with the support of Gandel Philanthropy (see Philanthropy and the Museum).

Panel discussions

This year, programming associated with the project included three Defining Moments in Australian History panel discussions: ‘Millennials’ (July 2017), ‘Women’s defining moments in Australian history’ (August 2017), and ‘Pride and prejudice: The history of LGBTQIA+ politics in Australia’ (June 2018). A total of 539 people attended these events. The panel discussions were recorded in front of a live audience and broadcast on ABC’s Radio National, and were also made available on the Museum’s ‘Audio on demand’ webpage.

Gandel Atrium

The Museum installed three more plaques into the floor of the Gandel Atrium: these marked the separation of Tasmania from the mainland 12,000 years ago, the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1972, and the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. In July, the Museum unveiled the Defining Moments in Australian History Discovery Wall in the Gandel Atrium. The digital interactive acts as a ‘timeline with a twist’, allowing visitors to explore the Museum’s collection objects linked to definitive historical events.

Education programs

Throughout the year, the Museum delivered a suite of 22 different facilitated education programs inspired by the Museum’s collections and current exhibitions, and linked to the Australian Curriculum. The Museum continued to provide curriculum-relevant digital programs using videoconferencing and mobile tours to school students across Australia, with 1781 participants recorded during 2017–18.

Professional development sessions exploring pedagogical approaches and practical techniques to engage students with historical content were conducted for 485 new and established teachers during the year.

Public programs

This year, 251,504 people participated in the wide range of public programs offered by the Museum.

Access programs

The Museum has a continuing commitment to provide access to its collections, exhibitions and programs for all Australians, including people with differing levels of ability. Programming initiatives in 2017–18 included music and art workshops, as well as ‘reminiscence’ workshops (both on- and off-site) for people living with dementia, discussions, gallery tours, tactile and multi-sensory workshops, and a festival day celebrating International Day of People with Disability. This year 890 people participated in the Museum’s access programs.

Programs for adults

The Museum develops programs for adults with a wide variety of interests and backgrounds. These aim to highlight the work of the Museum in fresh and exciting ways. Programs include lecture series relating to current exhibitions and research projects, artist workshops, book launches, performances, and biannual Night at the Museum events. In February 2018, the Museum’s By the Water concert series returned, with a sold-out event featuring Australian musicians Kate Miller-Heidke and Odette. Other program highlights included the ‘In conversation’ event with former prime minister, the Hon John Howard, and Howard Library director Professor Tom Frame reflecting on the history of Liberalism in Australia and discussing Defining Moments in Australian History, and the lecture series produced for the ‘So That You Might Know Each Other’: Faith and Culture in Islam exhibition (see also ‘So That You Might Know Each Other’: Faith and Culture in Islam).

Families and children

Programs developed and delivered to families and children included school holiday Discovery Space programs themed to accompany the exhibitions on display, and the Australia Day Family Festival. In total, 11,817 people participated in a family program during the year, while 25,930 people enjoyed the new virtual reality experiences, Collisions and Space Descent.

Kspace

Kspace is the Museum’s interactive adventure game, designed for children aged five to 12, in which participants create their own time-travelling robot and blast off to explore a mystery location in Australia’s past. Kspace is open daily to school groups and general visitors at specified times, and is a popular feature of the Museum, attracting 79,310 participants in 2017–18.

OUR TARGET

• Continue to expand the Museum’s membership base through Friends and donor programs.

MEASURES

• Increase the number of Friends memberships, and a minimum 50% renewal rate.
• Ensure Affinity Program is incorporated into CRM rollout.
• Launch the Museum’s Bequest Program.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• The Museum welcomed more than 1000 new Museum Friends during the year with a renewal rate of 49%.
• The Affinity Program will be incorporated into the new customer relationship management system (CRM), to be implemented in 2018–19 (see Engaging with customers).
• Work has commenced on the Museum’s Bequest Program, which will be launched and promoted more widely in 2018–19.

Analysis

Museum Friends

Museum Friends is the membership program of the National Museum of Australia, offering discounts in the Cafe and Shop, a subscription to the Museum magazine, unique monthly programs and special events. The Museum welcomed 1076 new members during the year, with a renewal rate of 49 per cent.

Friends events

Programs offered to Museum Friends were well attended, with 2837 members experiencing a range of tailored activities. These included exhibition previews, new member tours, tours of the Museum’s temporary exhibitions with curators, and Object Club events, providing an opportunity for members to speak with staff about recent and upcoming projects.

Mkids

The Mkids program, for children aged three to 12, launched in 2016. Mkids provides children with free entry to exhibitions and discounted school holiday activities. The program has helped the Museum identify suitable and engaging activities for children and their families in preparation for the Rome: City and Empire exhibition. The Mkids movie series also continues to be popular, adding to the ways families can experience the Museum.

Bequest program

In 2017–18 the Museum initiated the National Museum of Australia Bequest Program, setting out criteria to steward current bequest donors and manage their donations, as well as to encourage and secure new bequests. The Museum already has several notified bequests, and the program will be launched and promoted to the wider community in 2018–19. The Bequest Program will provide donors with the opportunity to influence how they are remembered, and be associated with the work of the Museum in perpetuity.

OUR TARGET

• Conduct the Museum’s Repatriation program to advise and assist Indigenous communities and program partners regarding repatriation of ancestral remains.

MEASURE

• Repatriation Program Plan 2017–2020: Year 1 milestones met.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• In fulfilment of the commitments outlined in the Repatriation Program Plan 2017–2020, the Museum assisted in the significant return of ancestral remains and secret/sacred objects, including the return of ancestral remains to the Willandra Repatriation Traditional Owners Committee.

Analysis

During 2017–18, the Museum continued to advise on and assist federal, state and territory cultural heritage institutions, Indigenous communities and representatives with the repatriation of Indigenous ancestral remains and secret/sacred objects within Australia and from overseas. The Museum does not actively seek to acquire ancestral remains or secret/sacred objects but it does have the capacity to accept remains. As a prescribed authority under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984, the Museum can be the repository for unprovenanced remains that are referred to the relevant Australian Government minister. To date, no remains have been deposited with the Museum under this Act.

The Museum’s repatriation program is funded by the Department of Communications and the Arts. The Museum holds Indigenous human remains and associated items on behalf of the Australian Government which have been returned to Australia through the international program managed by the Department of Communications and the Arts. Ancestral remains and secret/sacred objects that were transferred predominantly from the Australian Institute of Anatomy collections in 1985 are also held in the Museum’s collection. These have been de-accessioned and do not form part of the National Historical Collection. They are held in trust for Indigenous communities.

Mungo Man

The Museum delivered several repatriation program milestones during the year, including assisting the New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage in coordinating the return of the 42,000 year-old ancestral remains known as ‘Mungo Man’ to the Willandra Repatriation Traditional Owners Committee. This committee is comprised of Traditional Owners of the Willandra region, the Mutthi Mutthi, Paakantyi and Ngiyampaa peoples. The remains were formally repatriated with an apology from the Australian National University in 2015. Custodianship was temporarily transferred to the Museum so the community could prepare for their return. On 15 November 2017, the Museum transferred custodianship of Mungo Man and 104 other ancestral remains to the community. Following the small, private, departure ceremony, presided over by local host nations, the remains journeyed back to Lake Mungo in a Chrysler Valiant station wagon purchased by the Aboriginal Advancement League in Melbourne in the 1970s. The hearse and remains travelled via towns such as Hay and Balranald, before arriving at Mungo National Park where a ‘Welcome to country’ and repatriation ceremony were held.

International repatriation networks

The Museum was also a founding partner of the new German–Australian Repatriation Research Network (GARRN), an international research network concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander human remains and sensitive objects and their repatriation. In addition, the Museum collaborated with other international partners to process the repatriation of remains to the Ainu people of Japan (p. 28), and continues to participate in ARC projects related to repatriation (see Collaborative research projects).

OUR TARGETS

• Engage with external communities of interest to promote capacity-building and knowledge-sharing.
• Evaluate Encounters Indigenous Cultural Workers Scholarships pilot program.

MEASURES

• Key partnership milestones in the reporting period achieved.
• Advisory services scoped and delivered case-by-case.
• Establishment of endowed fund.

WHAT WE ACHIEVED

• The Museum was engaged in capacity-building and knowledge-sharing partnerships.
• The Museum began evaluating the pilot program of the Encounters Indigenous Cultural Workers Scholarships and established an endowed fund to support the Encounters Indigenous Cultural Workers fellowship program.

Analysis

Capacity-building and knowledge-sharing partnerships

The Museum is committed to capacity-building and knowledge-sharing partnerships, maintaining partnerships with key kindred bodies including Indigenous communities and organisations, major collectors, corporations and the university sector, with a number of Museum staff holding adjunct professorships at the Australian National University. Many of these important partnerships have been reported on elsewhere in this report (see especially Connect with academic, social, commercial, physical and online communities and Establish meaningful and long-lived local, national and international relationships ).

Western Australian Museum Aboriginal Emerging Curators Program

The Museum continues to support the Western Australian Museum to engage emerging Indigenous curators for exhibitions, research and other interpretive projects relevant to their communities. Participants gain a range of museum skills, including interpretation, engagement, storytelling and conservation. The program is supplemented by two intensive weeks of training in Perth and Canberra. The partnership has achieved great outcomes for participants, with nearly all pursuing interests in research, cultural tourism, heritage management and museum-related work across the country.

In February, two Yawuru curators from the Kimberley region, who worked on the development of the exhibition Lustre: Pearling & Australia, travelled to the Museum for the exhibition’s opening in the First Australians Focus Gallery.

DFAT Diplomatic Academy

The Museum supports DFAT’s Australian Culture and Values initiative by offering curatorial panels, presentations and tours with hosts. These sessionsare attended by DFAT staff ahead of their diplomatic postings in order to provide them with a deeper understanding of Australian history in their roles as Australian cultural ambassadors. In 2017–18, three DFAT Diplomatic Academy sessions were held at the Museum, with 48 participants.

Encounters Indigenous Cultural Workers Scholarships program

The Encounters Indigenous Cultural Workers Scholarships program was established by the Museum in 2016 following extensive consultation during the development of the Encounters: Revealing Stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Objects from the British Museum exhibition. Jointly sponsored by the Museum and The Prince’s Charities Australia, and supported by grants and private donations, the scholarships program was designed as a dynamic new learning opportunity for Indigenous cultural workers living in regional and remote communities. The innovative partnership model enabled six inaugural scholarship recipients to undertake professional development at the Museum in Canberra, and the British Museum and The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London in 2016–17.

The Museum has raised $100,260 from private donations to support the second iteration of the program, the Encounters Fellowship. Evaluation and feedback from participants and partners of the inaugural program has informed the 2019 program.