RAISE YOUR VOICEMuseums Australia is the national association and peak advocacy body representing museums and galleries. We represent a wide and diverse range of national, state, regional and community museums, galleries, historic sites, botanic and zoological gardens, research centres, Indigenous cultural centres, and Keeping Places across Australia. All of our members are linked by a shared dedication to the arts, movable cultural heritage and communities. We all understand that Australian cultural life is a dynamic ecosystem that generates creativity and contributes to the social and economic wellbeing of the country.

MA is also a service and professional development organisation. We seek to enhance the value of Australia’s collections and stories by sharing knowledge, developing skills, inspiring innovation and providing leadership and the authoritative voice in protecting and promoting our arts and cultural heritage.

MA is the single national voice representing a diverse sector that reaches across the entire country and internationally. Not only do we stitch these interests together to deliver clear messages and outcomes, we reach out to the broader collections and cultural sector to work together.

The cultural sector is the parallel source of knowledge to the formal education system and museums and galleries are hugely trusted sources of information, learning and engagement for people of all ages. As such, MA is focusing on priorities that lay the groundwork for a thriving Australia. The creative industries are one of the engine houses of the economy and we are focusing on their digital agenda because we think it will help drive the economy. For similar reasons we are leading projects in design, access, collaboration and innovation, and are planning a public campaign to raise awareness and stimulate further philanthropic support. Museums and galleries are also places where Indigenous and settler Australians meet and learn about each other, and are key resources for achieving reconciliation. The social capital dividend will be invaluable.

2,500The approximate number of museums and galleries in Australia (MA research)

7,500People employed in museums and galleries in Australia (ABS, 2010)

3.5 million

People visiting our National Cultural Institutions in 2013 (Ministry for the Arts)

50,000Conservative estimate of people who volunteer in museums and galleries in Australia (extrapolated from MA membership data)

54.9 million

Objects and artworks across Australia (ABS, 2004)

Join Share Engage Learn

Connect Inspire Protect

imagine support champion

promote think volunteer

create conserve enjoy

Museums Australia IncPO Box 266Civic Square ACT 2608W www.museumsaustralia.org.auP (02) 6230 0346E ma@museumsaustralia.org.auF facebook.com/MuseumsAustraliaT @MuseumsAust

tipTry to find out how many seniors volunteer and/or are involved in the cultural sector in your community and therefore contributing to lifelong learning and community health and wellbeing.

72,072Estimated volunteer hours given to 88 Western Australian museums in 2015, equating to a monetary value of $1,801,800 pa. (Museums Australia WA, 2016)

48%Number of international visitors participating in cultural and heritage activities in 2012, (Australia Council)

Museums Australia has prepared this brochure to provide information and inspiration for members of both MA and the arts and cultural heritage sectors as a whole when approaching all levels of government, funding bodies and the wider community about the value of museums and galleries in Australia.

The creativity inherent in arts

and culture helps drive community

development and business innovation

and enhances the quality of life.

The collections sector (galleries,

museums, keeping places, libraries

and archives) is both a resource

for innovation and creativity, and

a basis for learning and knowledge

production on many levels.

museums are where

culture and creative

expression can be

voices for justice Ford Foundation 2016

OUR TOP 6 ASKS

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Reversing and dumping the efficiency dividend on national cultural institutions and restoring funding to the arts sector through the Australia Council

Developing a confident and aspirational arts and cultural heritage framework that sets aims and priorities, delineates roles, and enables funding for implementation.

Recognising Australia’s cultural infrastructure as the wellspring of creativity, imagination and innovation. Adding arts and culture to STEM investments — innovation is not about coding!

Creating a proper Commonwealth funding stream for the vast majority of museums and galleries which are ineligible for Australia Council funding.

Supporting better Indigenous participation and representation. The social capital dividend will be invaluable.

Supporting efforts to disaster proof our arts and heritage institutions and communities — the increasing rate of climate-induced destruction of irreplaceable cultural collections, particularly in regional Australia, must be recognised and local organisations need advice and support to both reduce the risk and deal with the consequences.

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Discuss with your local MP or Councillor their expectations and needs from the cultural sector and the perceived role of the organisations working within it locally.

Recognise the value of arts and heritage to the economic and social wellbeing of the local community, and my organisation’s role in our community, by:• supporting funding submissions• advising on funding opportunities • recognising and protecting sites or objects of cultural significance

Integrate arts, heritage and cultural priorities into local strategic planning through:• collaboration with cultural and arts organisations• heritage/cultural advisors/co-ordinators employed at the local level• creating a culture where community groups can collaborate

Guarantee of support and access including:• direct financial support• long-term, low-cost leases for premises• access to physical and digital infrastructure

Evaluate and share the ECONOMIC IMPACT of your institution: • My museum employs _____ people in our community. • My museum spends $ _____ each year on goods and services in our community. • My museum serves _____ visitors each year, including _____% from out of town. • My museum serves _____ schoolchildren each year through school visits.

POINTS TO RAISE WITH YOUR LOCAL MEMBER/COUNCIL

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3

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5 we can

be strong

connectors in

our communities

‘85% of the general community and 92% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians believe it is important to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories’ — Australian Reconciliation Barometer 2014

There is widespread concern about the low level of engagement of Indigenous communities in the cultural sector, with decreasing levels of employment and a very patchy representation of Indigenous people and culture. In July, MA will be starting a collaborative 2-year project, funded by the Catalyst Fund, with Indigenous cultural leaders, and museums and galleries around the country to map how their cultures are represented and what the employment and leadership pathways are like. Options and plans to improve both will be developed. The project will help both small and large museums and galleries and local communities better engage with their Indigenous communities. This work is central to helping create a reconciled nation.

INDIGENOUS ROADMAP

Funded by Catalyst is our collaborative digitisation project. This aims to assist the Australian people to create innovative, educated, resilient and connected communities that understand and celebrate our shared cultural identity through free digital access to the nation’s cultural collections. Funding is available for one year and the project will be administered by GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) Peak Australia. Our 7-point plan to enable community digital access is below.

GLAM PEAK DIGITAL

museums and galleries are hugely

trusted sources of information,

learning and engagement for

people of all ages.

Museums Australia, www.museumsaustralia.org.au

American Association of Museums, www.aam-us.org

Museums Association (UK), www.museumsassociation.org

Making a difference: the cultural impact of museums, Professor Sara Selwood for National Museum Directors’ Council (UK) , 2010.

Museums and Public Value: creating sustainable futures, Carol A Scott (ed.), 2013.

Understanding the value of arts and culture report, Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK)

‘Museums… So What?’, Robert Stein, CODE | WORDS: Technology and Theory in the Museum, 2014.

Local Government and Cultural Collections in Victoria report, Museums Australia (Victoria), 2016.

Recommendation concerning the protection and promotion of museums and collections, their diversity and their role in society, UNESCO, 2015.

mOre inFOrmAtiOn

We appreciate the difficult

decisions that led to funding

cuts but cannot understand

how one vibrant sector can

reasonably lose so much core

infrastructure and be expected

to continue to thrive.Contemporary Art Organisations AustraliaJoint Statement 16 May 2016

Arts and cultural spending has a

ripple effect on the overall economy,

boosting both communities and jobs. National Endowment for the Arts (USA)

THINKING DIGITAL1

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Endorse a national strategy and framework for digital access to cultural collections

Invest in digitising Indigenous collections

Invest in institutions great and small to make their collections digitally accessible

Invest in research across the arts and humanities

Enable seamless discoverability and reuse of digital collections through ongoing investment in a central online aggregation platform

Amend the Copyright Act as proposed in the last term

Build employment and training in the creative industries and digital humanities

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THE INTERNATIONAL JUDGEMENT

The protection and promotion of cultural and natural diversity are major challenges of the twenty-first century. In this respect, museums and collections constitute primary means by which tangible and intangible testimonies of nature and human cultures are safeguarded.

Museums as spaces for cultural transmission, intercultural dialogue, learning, discussion and training, also play an important role in education (formal, informal, and lifelong learning), social cohesion and sustainable development.

Museums [and galleries] have great potential to raise public awareness of the value of cultural and natural heritage and of the responsibility of all citizens to contribute to their care and transmission. Museums [and galleries] also support economic development, notably through cultural and creative industries and tourism. (UNESCO, 2015)

THE VALUE OF MUSEUMS

9 out of 10 Australians think the arts are an important part of their education. Australia Council