AMaGA Victoria’s 2024 Creative State Submission
“Victorian museums and galleries are at a critical juncture... Now is not the time for innovation; it is a time for urgent support. The sector is seeking a robust, on-going funding environment to sustain, maintain, and survive this period of hardship.”
AMaGA Victoria has provided the Victorian Government with six focus areas (highlighted within the green circle) represent foundational principles that underpin AMaGA Victoria's activities and inform every aspect of our sector’s work. These elements include First Peoples engagement, cultural safety, education, regional development, community, and funding.
We have outlined five considerations expanding on these focus areas. These include:
Programs to support on-going professional growth for paid and unpaid staff, including pathways for First Peoples museum and gallery workers, and individuals with lived experience and diverse backgrounds.
Programs and policies in place at all levels of Government to understand and support community-run museums to achieve organisational sustainability.
Programs to support continued capital works and infrastructure renewal and development. We would recommend a second round of the Regional Collections Access Program (RCAP) with a broader scope, encompassing a wider range of eligible organisations and projects, such as the redevelopment of permanent exhibition spaces, accessible and welcoming spaces, and content development.
The development of a regional hub support model, encompassing digitisation and conservation services, sector specialists, and shared collection storage facilities. These hubs would serve as a regional conduit, placing professional staff in strategically selected locations based on the concentration of collecting institutions (i.e. Ballarat/Bendigo, Shepparton/Beechworth, Sale/Traralgon). In their roles, staff would facilitate training, manage on-site collection storage, provide on-site and roving support for regional organisations, and provide a central point of contact for emergency and disaster response (i.e. bushfires, floods, storms), as well as other special projects.
The above could be tied into potential opportunities highlighted in Sustaining People and Organisations > Consideration 1.
The feedback gathered has underscored the severity of the challenges faced by the sector and has highlighted where support is most urgently required: sustaining people, places, and collections. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to those who contributed to our submission to the Victorian Government’s Creative State Strategy.
