On top of this,the owner of the country’s most valuable public-funded art collection is facing a $265 million funding shortfall over the next 10 years to waterproof its 40-year-old building and bring it up to standard.
The extent of the crisis facing Australia’s leading cultural institution is detailed in a letter NGA board chairman Ryan Stokes sent the new Arts Minister Tony Burke on September 9.
In the letter,obtained byTheSydney Morning Heraldand The Ageunder freedom of information laws,Stokes foreshadows a budget crunch in June 2023 when a short-term funding injection of $24.77 million ends.
Years of efficiency dividend measures adversely impacted the gallery’s operations,stripping out over 10 years some $6.2 million in funding to stage exhibitions and programs,Stokes said.
He called for urgent consideration and provision of “sufficient funding to address the instability and uncertainty”.
Parts of the Stokes letter were redacted but the consequences of the gallery’s return to “base funding” includes a new round of staff redundancies,on top of 30 positions already lost in 2020. Restrictions to the physical building are being contemplated to cut costs - including the gallery’s closure two days a week - should there be no extra significant funding.
Burke said the Albanese government was acutely aware of the pressures facing major cultural institutions including the NGA.