Delivery against the museum's 'Statement of Intent' for 2019–20
In 2019, the museum provided a ‘Statement of Intent’ for 2019–20 in response to the Government’s ‘Statement of Expectations’. The following table summarises progress in delivering the Statement of Intent.
ANMM intentions | Actions and results |
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Contribute to economic activity, particularly in regional centres, through touring and other outreach activities | |
Investment in a diverse range of outreach activities, including in regional areas, as part of the Encounters 2020 program:
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Provide leadership to the collections sector as an employer of choice | |
Provide leadership to the collections sector as an employer of choice, particularly:
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Accept opportunities to shape and promote Australian identity through the museum’s public-facing activities both nationally and internationally | |
Continue to offer public-facing activities speaking to Australian identity and, where relevant, we will invite and support our visitors to reflect on issues of Australian identity in our public facing activities, particularly:
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Consider opportunities to create and meet demand for inbound tourism | |
Consider opportunities to create and meet demand for inbound tourism, particularly:
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Provide leadership in the delivery of collection management, arts education and public programs | |
Provide leadership in the delivery of collection management, education and public programs, particularly:
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Explore opportunities to grow private sector support and increase own-source revenue | |
Continue to build on the success to date in pursuing opportunities for own-source income by a stronger focus in the museum on identifying and implementing alternative revenue, including:
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Analysis of overall performance against purpose
The museum had a particularly promising start to 2019–20, and by January 31, it was looking like it would be the best year yet for visitation. Those strong results meant that the museum did not lose too much ground when, on March 24, we shut our doors in accordance with the COVID-19 pandemic public health order. We reopened on 22 June, trading for only eight days of the fourth quarter.
Despite COVID-19, the museum succeeded in attracting visitors onsite, offsite and online and visitor satisfaction is very high.
The museum’s diverse exhibitions have been central to our success this year. Particularly noteworthy are Sea Monsters: Prehistoric ocean predators, Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Bligh: Hero or Villain?. These exhibitions have had strong visitation and visitor appeal, good curriculum alignment, attractive programming, and opportunities for publicity, commercial return, reputational benefit and/or stakeholder engagement.
A highlight of offsite visitation was the Endeavour replica’s voyage to New Zealand for that country’s Tuia 250 program. A total of 19,427 people visited the vessel at six ports.
The museum’s contribution to student education reflects high-quality curriculum-aligned programs onsite, offsite and online. Some highlights of the year include our Women in Science event,War and Peace in the Pacific and the new Cook’s Voyages game.
The National Maritime Collection is growing and public access to the collection is on target. The museum’s Indigenous collection continued to grow this year with the acquisition of a number of key contemporary artworks that highlight relationships with the sea.
This year the museum earned 42.8% of revenue from own source (excluding one-offs), compared to 45% in 2018–19. This was a very good result considering the impact of COVID-19 on all revenue lines. The museum again faced increased depreciation expenditure and a reduction in venue hire activity, which was affected by onsite construction work during the year.
Finally, the museum largely delivered on its Statement of Intent for the year.
Going forward, the museum is anticipating a challenging 2020–21 as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both economically and socially, continues. The museum is committed to a range of measures in order to ensure that core functions are maintained and the museum can remain in a healthy position to recover.
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https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/australian-national-maritime-museum/reporting-year/2019-20-19