Status: Independent and unsolicited
Author: Ray Norman
Date: May 2015
CONTEXT: The collections held by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) rely upon public monies and philanthropic support – in cash, collection donations and in-kind support/sponsorships. Consequently, taxpayers, ratepayers and donors interests in the institution and its collections need to be protected.
The governance of the QVMAG and the protection and management of its collections is of particular concern when the evolving political discourse puts the institution's infrastructure, and by extension its collections, under scrutiny. It's especially so when the QVMAG's sustainability is being questioned and the spectre of 'rationalisation' arises consequentially in the local press.
Arguably, the QVMAG's collections are nationally significant and the claim that they form an important component of the 'national cultural estate'.
I was a foundation member of the QVMAG Governance Advisory Board (QVMAG MGAB) at the time it recommended that the QVMAG needed a Charter/Constitution and Strategic Plan. While the QVMAG does now have a Strategic Plan, it is more decorative than functional in that there is little or no ‘functional’ governance in place to implement and/or reinforce the KPIs. Furthermore, the QVMAG MGAB has not made any significant inputs into QVMAG policy development and implementation beyond the Strategic Plan.
Consequently, there are other policy shortfalls, and I believe, that there is a fundamental blurring of the governance and management roles that is counterproductive and inhibiting appropriate 21st C policy development and implementation.
When management itself devises and defines the policies the institution operates under it is ever likely that there will be inbuilt comforts and reduced accountability – at worst policies that are careless of constituency aspirations. In turn, all this does not, by necessity, bode well for transparency and credible accountability. Indeed, if accountability is seen as being discretionary it might not be all that surprising.
It is worth noting that with Launceston City Council as the QVMAG Trustees by default, in regard to the QVMAG:
Author: Ray Norman
Date: May 2015
CONTEXT: The collections held by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) rely upon public monies and philanthropic support – in cash, collection donations and in-kind support/sponsorships. Consequently, taxpayers, ratepayers and donors interests in the institution and its collections need to be protected.
The governance of the QVMAG and the protection and management of its collections is of particular concern when the evolving political discourse puts the institution's infrastructure, and by extension its collections, under scrutiny. It's especially so when the QVMAG's sustainability is being questioned and the spectre of 'rationalisation' arises consequentially in the local press.
Arguably, the QVMAG's collections are nationally significant and the claim that they form an important component of the 'national cultural estate'.
I was a foundation member of the QVMAG Governance Advisory Board (QVMAG MGAB) at the time it recommended that the QVMAG needed a Charter/Constitution and Strategic Plan. While the QVMAG does now have a Strategic Plan, it is more decorative than functional in that there is little or no ‘functional’ governance in place to implement and/or reinforce the KPIs. Furthermore, the QVMAG MGAB has not made any significant inputs into QVMAG policy development and implementation beyond the Strategic Plan.
Consequently, there are other policy shortfalls, and I believe, that there is a fundamental blurring of the governance and management roles that is counterproductive and inhibiting appropriate 21st C policy development and implementation.
When management itself devises and defines the policies the institution operates under it is ever likely that there will be inbuilt comforts and reduced accountability – at worst policies that are careless of constituency aspirations. In turn, all this does not, by necessity, bode well for transparency and credible accountability. Indeed, if accountability is seen as being discretionary it might not be all that surprising.
It is worth noting that with Launceston City Council as the QVMAG Trustees by default, in regard to the QVMAG:
- Holds something in the order of $230 Million in its collections. Disregarding the collections’ dollar value, and looking at their cultural and scientific values, the QVMAG's collections should be regarded as being a part of the ‘national cultural estate’;
- That LCC conscripts something in the order of $140 plus from Launceston’s ratepayers per annum for the QVMAG’s recurrent costs in the order of $6 Million and currently receives a State Govt subsidy in the order of $1.4 Million to support its operational budget; and
- Has a Draft(?) Collection’s Policy, that includes a Deaccession Policy, that would not meet the standards that apply in like institutions of its size and significance elsewhere in Australia; and furthermore it can be said that, as a standalone institution/operation it is less accountable, functionally, than any incorporated not-for-profit organisation given the lack of necessity for a separate constitution and standalone accountability.
The documentation of the QVMAG’s collections, like all institutions of its age and size, seem as if they are less than adequate and are vulnerable to leakages – anecdotally it seems that there have been some. Specifically, I believe that the institution's accession and deaccession policies and consequently the administrative security measures relevant to the protection of the collections are, I suggest, less than adequate relevant to current 21st C circumstances.
I simply ask that you investigate the governance and management of the QVMAG and make the recommendations that you see fit as you already have in the case of the TMAG.
I simply ask that you investigate the governance and management of the QVMAG and make the recommendations that you see fit as you already have in the case of the TMAG.
Ray Norman: Independent Researcher & Cultural Geographer
