We are committed to research excellence and innovative approaches to knowledge creation that make a significant difference in maritime heritage and museum sectors, and that result in professional and public recognition of our work.

We interpret and care for our collection through research and collaboration. We make our knowledge accessible to as many people as possible through our exhibitions, educational programs, publications and outreach.

We continue to build upon our knowledge and expertise, particularly in the digital and research areas, to create programs and exhibitions that are meaningful, relevant, inclusive and inspiring.

Criterion

The key performance measures of success are:

Learning

• number of students participating in school programs annually
• number of program packages online annually
• number of educational institutions participating in organised school learning programs
• percentage of teachers reporting relevance to the classroom curriculum
• percentage of teachers reporting overall positive experience.

Partnerships

• number of formal partnerships with educational and research institutions in place.

National Maritime Collection

• number of acquisitions made
• number of objects accessioned
• percentage of the total collection available to the public.

Criterion source

2018–19 Portfolio Budget Statements (PBS), p 141; 2018–22 Corporate Plan, p 25

Results against performance criterion

Learning

Partnerships

National Maritime Collection

Methodology

All data pertaining to collection item management (eg acquisitions, loans, object locations) is recorded in or derived from the museum’s collection management system (TMS). The number of items in the collection and the percentage available to the public is at 30 June. To assist with comparisons, results for past years have been adjusted to actuals at 30 June. Also, to make movements throughout the year transparent, the annual results for public access are now compared with the quarterly results for these indicators.

Participation in school programs is the aggregate of onsite, offsite and online participation by students and teachers. Onsite participation in school programs is determined by aggregating data regarding actual numbers collected by front of house from the museum educators. As the data is also used to compile invoices for payment for school visits, there is an additional check involved. Offsite participation is the sum of all who participate in museum education programs that are held beyond our site calculated by collating data from delivery staff and school bookings. Online participation in school programs is calculated using a range of methods (Google Analytics is used to count the number of unique users of The Voyage game; schools advise on the number of students participating in video-conferencing; participants in web-streaming are estimated using classroom views calculated by the Digital and Remote Technology System of the NSW Department of Education or equivalent).

The numbers of school programs delivered onsite are actuals recorded by the Learning team. The museum maintains a range of content-rich online programs and the Learning team reports on the number of such programs available online as at 30 June.

Teacher satisfaction is measured by evaluating visiting teacher feedback received by the Learning team.

The number of formal partnerships with educational and research institutions is recorded at the operational level. A formal contractual collaboration is one where a signed MOU or written contract is in place. A national/international cultural/educational institution is a public or non-profit institution that engages in the cultural, intellectual, scientific, environmental, educational or artistic enrichment of people.

Analysis

The museum has met or exceeded most of the major performance measures related to learning and school programs, partnerships and to the accessibility of the National Maritime Collection.

Learning

The number of students/teachers participating in school learning programs is 161% ahead of target, largely due to the strong appeal of the online learning programs, including The Voyage game, Virtual Endeavour tour and the ABC education collaboration ‘HMB Endeavour’s Voyage of Exploration’. These resources are developed with clear curricular alignment and are therefore popular with teachers and students.

The number of education programs delivered onsite (n=455) is 13.8% ahead of target (n=400) largely due to demand for programs related to the curriculum. The number of onsite student visitors was 20% behind target due to a focus on meeting demand for offsite school programs. However, when offsite participation is factored in, the total number of students participating in education programs was 32% ahead of target.

The smaller number of institutions engaged with the museum on formal learning programs onsite is a result of the trend toward smaller numbers of much larger visitor groups. However, this figure excludes institutions engaged in education programs conducted by our educators offsite.

The number of program packages online at 30 June was 33 – 28% ahead of target, reflecting program alignment with exhibitions. The offer included video, online games, teacher resources, VR walkthroughs and planning material.

Teacher satisfaction is unsurpassed at 100% and 98% of teachers report programs are relevant to the curriculum. These are particularly pleasing results reflecting the outcome of our program review and improvement.

Partnerships

The museum had 38 formal partnerships with various educational and research institutions this year: 27 in Australia and 11 overseas. Twenty of the partnership agreements related to object loans. The remainder dealt with inbound or outbound exhibitions, maritime archaeology projects, cultural diplomacy projects, education or acquisitions. The museum also had a large number of formal partnerships with commercial and government entities, as well as a diverse range of informal partnerships with educational and research institutions.

National Maritime Collection

There were 148,480 objects in the National Maritime Collection at 30 June 2019, an increase of 1,126. Objects accessioned to the collection numbered 1,099, against a target of 100. The number of new acquisitions was 133, against a target of 100.

The major acquisitions this year included the Sea Shepherd Delta PU781 RIB (20190115-1), the Bondi Surf Bathers Lifesaving Club murals (20140918-1), a japanned tea tray depicting the death of Captain Cook (20181120-2), a backpack made from a rubber asylum seeker boat (20180802-1), a linocut of Badu Harbour by Joseph Au (20180815-1), folding canoe Mk 1** variant (20180803-1), Swimming shark sculpture (20190328-1), a machete and truncheon relating to Operation Jaywick (20181206-1) and service medals, photographs and documents related to Sir Lionel Hooke on SY Aurora and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (20190218-1).

There were 47 objects approved for deaccession from the collection this year (see Appendix 11: Objects deaccessioned from the National Maritime Collection). The funds from disposal of these objects will be reinvested in the development of the collection.

The percentage of the collection available to the public (69.36%) is on target (69%) and a little ahead of last year (69.26%). The following table compares the accessibility of the collection across the year: