Director’s Award for Excellence 2024

This award recognises the outstanding commitment of Angela Rooke to the National Museum of Australia.

Not only is Angela the Museum’s longest-serving staff member, but she has also been instrumental in the development of the Museum.

Angela commenced her career at the Museum long before the building at Acton was conceived. She started work at Yarramundi, over three decades ago, as a secretary to senior manager David Lance.

She was executive assistant to at least three Museum directors, including Dawn Casey, Bill Jonas and Margaret Coaldrake.

Her unwavering professionalism, discretion, patience and knowledge of protocol are legendary. She supported directors with very different styles of leadership, dealing with many demands and deadlines with great competence and a no-fuss approach.

Whether organising Council papers and meetings, rebooking flights for the third time or minding the director’s children during the odd work emergency, Angela was always unflinching and unflappable. She negotiated the incredibly busy time when the Museum opened at Acton in 2001, until Dawn Casey’s departure in late 2003.

Angela then joined the Multimedia and Web team, where her invaluable corporate knowledge, second-to-none organisational skills and sound judgement ensured the Museum delivered high-quality web content. She has since worked on complex website redevelopments and expanded her skillset into the broader digital realm, always advocating for the Museum’s audience and collection.

Since stepping into a leadership role in the Digital team in 2018, Angela hasn’t looked back. She was supportive and innovative in leading the team through the Covid-19 lockdown, when the Museum experimented with new ways of working and connecting with audiences. In her time leading the Digital team, website visitation has continued to grow, with online visits exceeding physical visits by nine times in 2023.

Bringing a sense of calm to the roles in which she has worked, Angela takes everything in her stride and consistently demonstrates a can-do approach. She presents a thoughtfulness in her work that is an aspiration to others and is the epitome of good planning and organisation.

Angela is a high achiever, albeit a quiet achiever. It is her quiet leadership that is one of her most compelling features and a characteristic that commands respect and draws people to her.

Angela is well respected by her colleagues and has demonstrated an adaptability to get the best from the team she leads. She works seamlessly with the rest of the Museum team to deliver organisational priorities and results.

She is a highly worthy recipient of the Director’s Award for Excellence.