Protest at Art Gallery as $12 million deficit revealed

“The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences seems to be the black hole sucking all the funding and attention.”

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The gallery’s budget crisis is a major test of the new leadership of Page, named five months ago as the gallery’s first female director.

It also spotlights the Minns government’s priorities to fund the Powerhouse Museum’s expansion ahead of the March 2027 state election while enforcing budget restraint on all other major cultural institutions.

The state funding agency, Create NSW, is also being gutted, with the loss of 24 staff including three senior executives.

The cuts to Create NSW amount to annual savings of about $5 million, or $20 million over the next four years, with only $4 million of that so far announced to western Sydney as part of the government’s three-year strategic plan.

The Public Service Association, which represents staff at the gallery and the museum, has blamed the Powerhouse’s runaway employee costs on management’s push for consultants and external hires. Government says the extra funding is needed for the Powerhouse Parramatta project.

“The continued use of consultants as art advisers and curators, the lack of respect or profile for the core business of the collection and the secrecy around the purpose of Ultimo have our members at that institution on tenterhooks,” Wright said.

“Meanwhile the Art Gallery is cutting 50 plus jobs – disproportionately from lower paid grades – to make up for a $12 million shortfall for which they cannot get a bailout, and Create NSW is also being sliced up, both seemingly because the MAAS project has all the funding.”

Union members representing staff from other cultural institutions will join their colleagues at the protest, concerned their positions are also at risk.

The art gallery has extended the consultation period with staff by an additional two weeks due to the sheer amount of feedback. Some staff members have complained the director has still not been able to provide consistent and easily understood information in staff communications.

Page said she met with staff for four divisional meetings to outline the rationale for the proposed new structure.

“This is a profoundly challenging time for the gallery, especially for our dedicated colleagues who are impacted by the proposed structure.”

Change was a normal part of any organisation’s evolution, Arts minister John Graham said. “The Art Gallery is stable and focused, with a strong executive team committed to delivering its vision. I’m advised that the proposed organisational change reflects the Art Gallery’s operational requirements, future programming and ambitions, its collections and audiences.”

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