Sharing values

Image by BK ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoquotes/16283933799)

Original photo credit: Jeong Eem Lee. Licensed via https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

What are the values of Museums Galleries Australia?  Reviewing and holding to these values is key to making changes to our professional association. Read the draft proposition presented here in blue and think about these questions. We would love to hear what you think so please post your comments to us at museumstasmania@gmail.com with 'Review' in the subject line.

1. What do you think of the draft value proposition?

o Does it communicate our identity/worth/values?

o How would you change it?

o Is there a need to change the name to better reflect our identity or purpose? Why/why not?

2. What you want/get?

o What are your most pressing needs (as an institution/individual museum worker)?

o What are the most significant issues in the sector?

o Do you get the level of services that you want from your local/state branch?

o Do you get what you want from the national body?

3. What you give?

o What do you contribute to your local/state/national body?

o Are there other/better ways of contributing?

4. What should MGA be doing more or less of?

5. Being a member

o What’s your main reason for being a member?

OR

o If you are not – what would change your mind?

DRAFT VALUE PROPOSITION Our purpose / Why we exist We are a membership-based advocacy body for the museum and art gallery sector in Australia. We are where organisations and individual members, professional or volunteer, connect with others, raise issues, increase their knowledge and skills, and contribute to their sector’s ability to speak up and influence critical debate. We are the national voice representing the diverse Australian museum sector that reaches across the entire country and internationally. Our value / What we do As a membership body we provide advice, representation and services to enable organisations and individuals to thrive; and as a peak body we advocate on behalf of the sector with the aim of communicating the value of museums and galleries, raising professional standards, informing policy, and promoting ethical practice. Our promise / How we deliver We provide valuable resources and development opportunities for our members to learn and network, and forums for raising and solving issues and concerns. We bring our sector’s interests together to deliver clear messages and advice to governments and the public, and we reach out to the broader collections and cultural sector to collaborate on projects that enhance, protect and promote Australia’s cultural resources.

BACKGROUND

The new national council is committed to undertaking a strategic review of Museums Galleries Australia. MA conducted an environmental scan which is the most current survey of information specifically influencing the sector. You can catch up on the latest in the sector at this link.

Who we are

MA was formed in 1994 as a deliberate single national membership organisation for the museum and gallery sector to strengthen the national voice and enable greater collaboration and service provision. This builds on a history of museum professional association activity that extends back to the 1930s.

Museums Galleries Australia (MA) is the national membership association and peak advocacy body representing museums and galleries. We encompass a wide and diverse range of national, state, regional and community museums, galleries, historic sites, botanic and zoological gardens, research centres, Indigenous cultural centres, and Keeping Places across Australia.

MA is also a service and professional development organisation. We seek to enhance the value of Australia’s collections and stories by sharing knowledge, developing skills, inspiring innovation and providing leadership and the authoritative voice in protecting and promoting our arts, science and cultural heritage.

MA partners with the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Australia. We encourage and support international exchange of ideas and expertise.

Stats at a glance

664 organisational members of MA (covering up to 7,000 professional museum/gallery workers and up to 10,000 volunteers)

663 individual members of MA

One national office based in Canberra, 8 state/territory branches, 14 regional chapters and 12 national networks of shared disciplines and interests

Our most recent achievements

MA initiated the first ever collaboration of GLAM Peak (galleries, museums, libraries and archives’ peak bodies) that is focusing on an integrated approach to expanding Australia’s digital access to collections and meeting the 21st century’s requirements for a knowledge economy. A series of projects is delivering training and strategic direction to the sector.

MA has provided leadership training for practically all the directors of museums and galleries in Australia and New Zealand through the internationally recognised Museum Leadership Program. Supported since its inception by the Gordon Darling Foundation, it has just been announced that the 8th program will be delivered in 2018.

MA successfully delivers outstanding annual national conferences (most recently, Brisbane in May 2017 and jointly with Museums Aotearoa in Auckland in 2016), along with a range of locally developed and delivered events and professional development programs in every state and territory. 

Thank you for reading this far and even more thanks for letting us know what you think via the Facebook Page or museumstasmania@gmail.com.