The National Museum of Australia was established under the National Museum of Australia Act 1980 (the Museum Act) and is a Commonwealth corporate entity as defined by the Public Governance, Performance Accountability Act 2013 (the PGPA Act). The Museum Act sets out the functions and powers of the Museum. On 30 June 2019 portfolio responsibility for the Museum sat within the Department of Communications and the Arts.
The Australian Government’s Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS) for 2018–19 and the Museum’s Corporate Plan 2018–19 set out how the Museum’s performance will be measured and assessed in achieving the Museum’s purposes in 2018–19 (the reporting period). The Museum developed and published the Corporate Plan 2018–19 in accordance with the requirements of section 35 of the PGPA Act.
This part reports on the Museum’s performance for the reporting period, as required under the PGPA Act and the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Rule 2014.
Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS)
The Australian Government funds the Museum to achieve an agreed outcome through a series of performance indicators, as specified in the annual PBS.
The Museum’s 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.
Purpose
The Museum was established to develop and maintain the National Historical Collection for the benefit of the nation, and to bring to life the rich and diverse stories of Australia.
Central to the Museum’s role as a national institution is its focus on meaningful engagement with all Australians in the telling of their stories, and its commitment to the history and cultures of the First Australians.
The Museum achieves this by caring for and strengthening the collection, and by sharing the stories of Australia’s people and places, and its social and natural environment, with national and international audiences. The Museum tells the comprehensive story of Australia from deep time to the present day.
Key streams of endeavour
The Museum’s mission is to become one of Australia’s premier destinations, bringing the world’s cultures to Australia and presenting Australia’s history and culture to the world.
In pursuit of this goal, the Museum has developed an overarching and ambitious Master Plan 2017–2030, and has articulated five key streams of endeavour in its strategic and corporate plans that will guide its performance and operations over the next four years.
The five key streams of endeavour are:
Collections for the 21st century
- Developing, maintaining and displaying the richness of its collections for all Australians to access, explore and treasure.
- Building connections between objects, memory, imagination and lived experience — across cultures, across communities and across time.
Program directions
- Putting the audience at the centre of everything we do.
- Embedding a culture of discovery, delight, inquiry and authority, where contemporary Australia can be understood in relation to its past and its future.
Digital futures
- Embracing technological change across all aspects of our business.
- Positioning ourselves as an institution at the core of the emerging knowledge economy.
Growing our business
- Strengthening our resource base and embracing opportunities for growth and diversification.
- Developing resilience and flexibility in our workforce to quickly adapt and respond to changing environments and demands.
Brand recognition
- Being at the forefront of cultural life in the country, where all Australians can find their stories in our place, and our place in their stories.
- Becoming a recognised world-class museum, renowned for telling the remarkable story of our nation, from the ancient and enduring histories of the world’s oldest living cultures to the making of contemporary Australia.