Photo: www.aicomos.com.
Paul Karp, National galleries, museum and library warn staff will go after funding cuts, The Guardian, 12 February 2016
National cultural institutions in Canberra, including the National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery and National Library, have warned they may have to sack staff and even close one day a week because of federal funding cuts.
In the 2015 midyear economic update the government imposed a 3% efficiency dividend on cultural and collecting institutions – except the Australia Council – a total cut of $36.8m over four years.
In Senate estimates on Tuesday, the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Angus Trumble, said the gallery might have to cut three of its 55 full-time staff, a “large” loss. He hoped current opening hours could be maintained, but said the gallery would consider closing on Mondays to save money.
The director of the Museum of Australian Democracy, Daryl Karp, said: “We’ve cut fat, we’ve cut muscle, now we’ve got to look at what we stop doing.
“It means our exhibitions will run for longer, we will have fewer exhibitions happening, we will do one less significant event each year.”
