Parliamentary Committees

Statutory Authorities Review Committee: Inquiry into the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (16:00): I move:

That the report of the committee be noted.

The South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia are statutory authorities. On 13 May 2024, the Statutory Authorities Review Committee resolved on its own motion to inquire into the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia. The board of the South Australian Museum was brought to the committee's attention because of the board's proposed new strategic direction, known as reimagining. The proposed reimagining was to be accompanied by a restructure of the South Australian Museum that would see a reduction in the number of scientific and collection positions within the Museum from 27 to 22. Further, the 22 scientific and collections positions would be reclassified at more junior levels.

The proposed strategic direction caused stakeholders to express concerns that the Museum's global scientific reputation would be damaged. Stakeholders also expressed concerns about the ability of the Museum to maintain its current and vital programs of service to state government and the community, particularly its repatriation program. Other concerns expressed the views that both the South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia lacked suitable operational government funding and space for collections, storage and display.

The committee received 84 written submissions and heard from 23 witnesses. The committee visited the South Australian Museum and its offsite storage facility. The committee also visited the Australian and Powerhouse museums in Sydney and the Queensland Museum to hear about organisational restructures in these jurisdictions. The committee heard that the South Australian Museum has close to six million items in its biological sciences, human cultures and earth sciences collections. The South Australian Museum also houses globally significant First Nations collections.

The committee heard that the South Australian Museum has a first-class repatriation program and, in 2022-23, 40 Aboriginal ancestral remains were returned to country. The 2023-24 Annual Report of the South Australian Museum states that, during the 2023-24 period, 98 Aboriginal ancestral remains were also returned to country.

Prior to commencement of the committee's inquiry, the Premier halted implementation of the reimagining strategic direction for the Museum and accompanying proposed restructure and set up an independent review panel. The Premier's review panel released its findings and recommendations in September 2024. The result has been an injection of a further $4.1 million into the South Australian Museum. Mr Kim Cheater, stepping down from his position as chair of the board of the South Australian Museum, has been replaced by Professor Rob Saint. Further, earlier this year, the former chief executive officer of the Museum, Dr David Gaimster, was retired from his position and has been replaced by acting director, Ms Clare Mockler. A new strategic plan for the Museum will be developed through a thorough and collaborative consultation process involving staff, donors, supporters and other stakeholders.

The Art Gallery of South Australia is home to a collection of over 48,000 works of art with a market value of over $1 billion. The Art Gallery was reviewed by the committee against a backdrop of the state government's release of a 10-year cultural policy and a two-year delivery plan that was accompanied by an $80 million funding commitment, including $15 million specifically for the Art Gallery of South Australia. The committee has made 16 findings and 14 recommendations. The recommendations were that:

both boards of the Museum and Art Gallery retain their status as statutory authorities;

both acts and associated regulations be reviewed by state government in consultation with stakeholders for contemporisation;

the Museum is to continue to implement the recommendations from the established Premier's review panel;

best practice in governance be adopted by boards of the Museum and, indeed, the Art Gallery, especially with respect to financial reporting; and

a review be conducted by state government, in consultation with stakeholders, into the financial sustainability of both the Museum and the Art Gallery.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide evidence to this inquiry. I also acknowledge and thank the members of the committee for their work during the inquiry, and it was quite a substantial amount of work. I would like to thank the Hon. Tammy Franks, the Hon. Dennis Hood, the Hon. Jing Lee and the Hon. Tung Ngo. I also wish to thank the committee staff for their assistance, in particular the researcher Merry Brown and, to some extent, also Peter Dimopoulos, secretary.

Finally, I would like to finish with these remarks. The South Australian Museum and the Art Gallery are cherished and respected institutions for many South Australians, and I hope that this inquiry has built on the work which has been done—and I think continues to be done—by the state government to ensure that there is confidence in these institutions. They are much-loved institutions in South Australia.

I think, to some extent, the Premier stepping in, in the way that he has done as this inquiry of the committee rolled out, really underlines exactly that point. I know, personally, this inquiry has given me much greater appreciation of world-class research, and specifically the world-class research which we do right here in South Australia, and the value that then has to the greater nation and indeed other nations in the world. To the historians, scientists and staff at the South Australian Museum and Art Gallery, and to the extent that I think it is possible some of those people might read Hansard, I would like to thank them for the work they do.

To the somewhat lesser chance that those scientists and historians interstate who work in our institutions over there might read this Hansard, the evidence that they gave to us, the insight that they gave to us, underlined the importance of our museums, in particular, in collating scientific evidence which then really informs how governments best institute policy, and best institute changes in a changing world like, for instance, what is happening with climate change and, indeed, what we can see off the coast of South Australia right now.

I think that starts at our learning institutions like our museums. It is not just somewhere to go on the weekend with the family, although you should. It is a fantastic place where learning—acquired, deep learning—has a real meaning and a real value. With that, I commend the committee's report to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. D.G.E. Hood.