About Us
Jeremy Johnson (CEO, Sovereign Hill Museums) and Kate Clark (Director, Historic Houses Trust) at the CAMD Disaster Workshop and Annual General Meeting in Christchurch in November 2011.
Museums in CAMD
CAMD’s members manage 62 separate institutions which include state and national museums, social and natural history collections, science centres, heritage houses and outdoor museum sites. The collections they hold are broad, ranging from our earliest natural science specimens to cutting edge, modern design and technology.
Purpose
Since 1967, CAMD has worked to provide the leaders of major museums with opportunities to:
- share information, ideas and data and consider collective priorities
- collaborate with other cultural institutions and museum organisations on mutually beneficial campaigns and projects
- inform and shape museum and cultural policy agendas in Australia and New Zealand
- represent the interests of members and their museums to Government and other stakeholders; and
- promote the social, educational, scientific, cultural and economic benefits of the wider museum sector to Government and the community.
Regular Activities
CAMD meets twice a year; on each occasion at a different member museum. It conducts an annual survey of member museums to assist in benchmarking and to gather a snapshot of the performance of major museums in the Australasian region.
Recent collaborative projects have included:
- taking a key role in the establishment of the Atlas of Living Australia
- creating the online Museum Metadata Exchange, in cooperation with Museums Australia, to enhance academic access to museum collections; and
- running a successful grants program for the International Year of Biodiversity.
Representations
CAMD makes representations and submissions on matters of concern to relevant Government agencies. Most recently it has commented on :
- the refreshing of Australia’s National Research Priorities (March 2012)
- the development of a new Australian National Heritage Strategy (February 2012)
- changes to Australian Research Council (ARC) funding rules for 2013 (January 2012)
- Australia’s new National Cultural Policy (October 2012)
- the Australian Research Infrastructure ‘Roadmap’ (August 2011)
- the need for Immunity from Seizure for Cultural Objects on Loan legislation (August 2011)
- the Mitchell review of Private Sector Support for the Arts (July 2011) and
- the Inquiry into the Role and Potential of the National Broadband Network (February 2011).
CAMD is a non-Government, independent body. It is funded by its member museums which allows it to maintain a part-time member of staff.
* For a full list of CAMD museum sites see: