The National Museum of Australia guides the delivery of its outputs through its corporate governance framework. This framework comprises the Museum's enabling legislation and other legislative instruments, managerial and organisational structures, corporate policies and strategies, and resource management practices.
Legislation
The National Museum of Australia Act 1980 defines the broad functions and activities of the Museum. This Act established the Museum as a Commonwealth statutory authority and, along with the National Museum of Australia Regulations, defines the Museum's role, functions and powers. ( For the functions and powers of the Museum, see Appendix 2 ). The Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 provides a single set of core reporting, auditing and accountability requirements for directors of Commonwealth authorities. It also deals with other matters such as banking and investment and the conduct of officers, and states that directors are responsible for the preparation and content of the report of operations in accordance with the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies (Report of Operations) Orders 2008. The Public Service Act 1999 covers the powers of the Director of the National Museum of Australia in relation to the management of human resources.
The National Museum of Australia is a statutory authority within the portfolio of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
| Accountability | Controls |
| Parliament Government Minister Council Other stakeholders |
Legislation Delegations Values Codes of conduct Ethics Certified Agreement Staff circulars |
| Strategy | Performance |
|
Vision and mission |
Internal conformance and reporting External conformance and reporting |
Council and committees
The Council of the National Museum of Australia is responsible for the overall performance of the organisation, including setting the strategic direction and establishing goals for management. The Council works with senior management in developing, executing, monitoring and adjusting the appropriate strategies, and its members are appointed under Section 13(2) of the National Museum of Australia Act 1980.
The National Museum of Australia Act 1980 provides for a Council consisting of a Chair, the Director of the Museum and not fewer than seven or more than 10 other members. All members are appointed by the Governor-General and, apart from the Director, are part-time appointees for terms of up to three years, although terms of appointment can be extended. The Director can hold office for a period not exceeding seven years.
The current membership of the Council provides a mix of skills and experience in the areas of history, politics, education, business, financial and strategic management, journalism, museum management, and government policy and administration. The Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal determines remuneration for non-executive members.
During 2007–08 the term of one non-executive member, Mr David Barnett OBE, lapsed.
At 30 June 2008, the Council comprised the following members:
- The Hon Tony Staley AO (Chair)
- Dr John Hirst (Deputy Chair)
- Mr Benjamin Chow AO
- Dr John Fleming
- Ms Marian Gibney
- Ms Sally Anne Hasluck
- Mr Christopher Pearson
- Mr Craddock Morton (executive member).
Christopher Pearson, Craddock Morton, Marian Gibney, Benjamin Chow,
Tony Staley and Sally Anne Hasluck.
The Council held five meetings during 2007–08. Senior officers from the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (July – December 2007) and from the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (December 2007 – June 2008) attended Council meetings as observers.
The Museum provides Council members with information on government changes to corporate governance responsibilities as it becomes available, including Australian National Audit Office documents and guidelines.
The Council has policy and procedures for the disclosure and resolution of any matter for its consideration that may result in a conflict of interest. Members are required to make the nature of that interest known at the commencement of a Council meeting, and details of such disclosures are recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
The Council has three committees that assist in the execution of its responsibilities:
- the Audit and Finance Committee
- the Collections Committee
- the Sponsorship and Development Committee.
Details of Council committees are in Appendix 1.
Executive Management group
|
Director |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Audience and Programs Division |
Collections and Content Division General Manager |
Operations Division |
Directorate |
|
Education |
Registration |
Facilities and Risk Management |
Executive Officer |
|
Audience Development and Public Programs |
Conservation |
Employee Relations and People Development |
Finance and Retail |
|
Marketing and Sponsorship |
Collections Development |
Information Technology and Services |
Strategic Development and Policy |
|
Visitor Services and Volunteers |
Gallery Development |
Exhibitions |
Public Affairs |
|
Multimedia and Web |
Old New Land/Eternity |
Museum Enhancement Program |
Indigenous Matters |
|
Copyright and Production Services |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program |
Venue and Media |
Legal Services |
|
Print Publishing |
Collection Information and Digitisation/Opal |
Workplace Design and Storage |
Centre for Historical Research |
|
Friends of NMA |
|||
Performance Management Framework
The Museum's organisational Performance Management Framework provides the structure for delivering outputs and outcomes through planning, policy and procedural work. Performance is guided by the Museum's strategic and business plans as well as its vision and mission statements. Performance is tracked through quantitative measures, project management practices and qualitative reports.
Strategic Plan
A new Strategic Plan 2007–10 came into effect on 1 July 2007. Its key priorities and a summary of progress against its business priorities for 2007–08 are provided in Part One, Executive summary, of this report.
Business planning
Business planning and performance reporting are central to the Museum's delivery of outcomes and outputs for its stakeholders. Museum divisions and their business units implement annual business plans linked to the Museum's strategic and annual business priorities. Business planning identifies key risks for the delivery of the Museum's priorities, and includes risk mitigation.
Project management
During the year the Museum's project management methodology was further deployed through discussions with the exhibition management team. Primavera is a collaborative, web-enabled project management tool that allows:
- project managers to plan, schedule and manage projects
- team members to view and update activities for which they are accountable for in a project
- managers and executives to view the performance of portfolios of projects for which they are responsible.
Application of this methodology, software and project support will continue to evolve throughout 2008–09.
Policies and plans
The Museum has a comprehensive suite of policies and plans, which it monitors and reviews at regular intervals and makes publicly available on its website.
