Chapter 1—Director’s review
Director’s review
The 2009–10 year marked another busy period for Old Parliament House. Our major focus was on consolidating and evaluating the exhibitions, programs and governance arrangements resulting from the launch of the Museum of Australian Democracy and our establishment as an Executive Agency in the previous year. Throughout 2009–10 we continued to achieve significant outcomes across all areas. We are well placed to continue providing an engaging experience for our visitors, protecting the heritage values of the building and maintaining a strong governance framework to support our operations.
The launch of the Living Democracy—The Power of the People exhibition on 14 August 2009 and the opening of the newly interpreted Opposition Party Room and Office of the Leader of the Opposition on 10 May 2010 both significantly contributed to our activities in telling the story of Australian democracy and its past, present and future. Increased focus on strengthening the Museum of Australian Democracy brand further enhanced our standing as a ‘must-see tourist destination’.
The year saw strong growth in visitation—particularly for our schools programs, which have increased their participant numbers by 80 per cent over the past four years. New, specialist onsite education programs Decisions 3Sixty° and Our Voices, Our Choices were introduced during the year, as was the use of radio frequency identification technology to enable students to explore and interrogate content and activities within exhibitions.
A major milestone was the negotiation and implementation of our first enterprise agreement as an Executive Agency. The staff representatives who undertook this daunting task are to be commended for their professionalism throughout the negotiation period.
Our program of capital works continued; notably, 2009–10 saw the commencement of a project that will both refurbish the front entrance to the building and significantly improve disabled access. Heritage staff continued to manage specific conservation activities, such as the conservation of the Downstairs Gallery floors, while ensuring that the management of the site remained consistent with our legislated heritage responsibilities.
We developed strong partnerships with a range of organisations with similar interests to ours— collecting and academic institutions, libraries and others. Such cooperation will have long-term benefits for our exhibitions, interpretation, collecting and research activities.
Our fellowship and scholarship programs continued to encourage a wide range of research activities associated with Australian prime ministers, with seven fellowships and three summer scholarships awarded during the year.
Overview of performance and financial results
The corporate structures introduced in the previous year operated effectively and were reviewed, refined and updated as required.
The agency operated within its set budget for the year, as evidenced by the operating surplus of $0.127 million. The requirements set for the agency by the Australian Government’s Operation Sunlight initiative were also successfully met. All projects and programs were carried out effectively within their set allocations, without cost overruns. The financial statement audit of the agency resulted in an unqualified audit report.
Outlook for 2010–11
There are many challenges to embrace in the forthcoming year as we implement a new approach to the structure and accessibility of our website and progressively add rich content to our online programs. New content will be added to permanent exhibitions, and the development of new temporary exhibitions and travelling exhibition programs will take us into a new and exciting phase.
We will continue to meet the challenges of managing a museum open to the public 364 days a year, while we passionately uphold our responsibility to conserve and manage the heritage significance of our magnificent building—how privileged we are to be able to do this in the very place where many momentous decisions affecting all Australians were made.
Challenges
We are well prepared to meet the challenges ahead of us as we explore a wider range of online programs and travelling exhibitions to reach a wider audience.
We will assess the sustainability of our current activities, particularly projected growth in school visitation and the impact of growth on resourcing and the heritage fabric of the building.
With the support of staff, volunteers and the Advisory Council we will embrace these challenges to ensure our visitors—onsite, online and through outreach programs—will have the opportunity to celebrate, debate and experience the journey of our democracy.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank our staff and volunteers for once again showing both outstanding skill and application in carrying out their duties. The task of consolidating our new attractions and operations during the year was in many ways more challenging than the earlier task of developing them. However, our staff and volunteers were more than equal to the challenge, demonstrating adaptability and dedication.
Sadly, the then Chair of the Volunteers’ Committee, Mr Peter Giesinger, died suddenly in late May 2010. I would like to pay tribute to his contribution to the organisation.
Once again, the advice and support of the Old Parliament House Advisory Council was invaluable. In particular, the Chair, Mr William McInnes, was extremely generous in the time and assistance that he provided, making himself available on numerous occasions to represent the agency and participate in its activities.
I look forward with optimism to working with our staff, volunteers and the Advisory Council in the forthcoming year to fulfil our great potential.
Jenny Anderson
Director
4 October 2010