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MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERIES
Museums (including art galleries) engage in the acquisition, collection management, conservation, interpretation, communication and exhibition of heritage objects and artefacts. Heritage objects include those that inform people about natural science, applied science, history, transport, art and other culture.
Australian Museums and Galleries On Line (AMOL) - formerly known as Australian Museums On Line - provides access to a database of information on national, state, territory, regional and local museums at <http://www.amol.org.au>. AMOL includes a searchable database of objects from collecting institutions across Australia. AMOL is being replaced by the Collections Australia Network (CAN) at <http://www.collectionsaustralia.net>. It is intended that CAN’s search capabilities and on-line resources will eclipse those of its predecessor, and that it will increase collaboration in the on-line environment between organisations spanning galleries, libraries, museums and archives.
MUSEUM ATTENDANCE
The 2002 Survey of Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events showed 24.9% of the population aged 18 years and over (3.6 million people) had visited an art gallery at least once in the previous 12 months (table 12.5). This is higher than the attendance rate of 20.9% (2.9 million people) when the survey was run in 1999. The attendance rate at museums (other than art galleries) was 25.0% (3.6 million people) in 2002 compared with 19.6% (2.8 million people) in 1999. This large rise in attendance can be partly explained by the temporary closure of some large museums during the 1999 survey period.
12.5 ATTENDANCE AT MUSEUMS(a) - 2002
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 | Attendance rate(b) |
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| Art galleries | Museums |
| % | % |
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| Males | 22.0 | 24.6 |
| Females | 27.7 | 25.4 |
| Persons | 24.9 | 25.0 |
| Age group (years) | | |
| 18-24 | 23.8 | 22.3 |
| 25-34 | 23.9 | 27.0 |
| 35-44 | 25.8 | 29.1 |
| 45-54 | 27.8 | 25.3 |
| 55-64 | 28.0 | 25.7 |
| 65 and over | 19.7 | 18.3 |
| Birthplace | | |
| Australia | 24.8 | 24.9 |
| Main English-speaking countries | 29.0 | 29.6 |
| Other countries | 22.6 | 22.6 |
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(a) Attendance at least once in the 12 months prior to interview in 2002.
(b) The number of people who attended, expressed as a percentage of the number of people in that population group.
Source: Attendance at Selected Cultural Venues and Events, Australia, 2002 (4114.0). |
MUSEUMS INDUSTRY
The ABS conducted a survey, in respect of 2003-04, of museums which were open to the general public during that period. The scope of this survey included: historic trusts and sites; historic societies with a collection; house museums; social and natural history museums; archives (excluding the national and state archives); art galleries (excluding commercial art galleries); keeping places and cultural centres; outdoor museums; science museums; maritime museums; military museums and transport museums.
At the end of June 2004 there were 1,329 museum locations operating in Australia, containing a total of 54.9 million museum objects and artworks (table 12.6). Almost half (49.1%) of these locations were operated without employees, relying on the assistance of 9,382 volunteers. Volunteers were also important to museums operating with employees. The 676 museum locations with employees, employed a total of 7,624 people and were assisted by 11,061 volunteers.
The 74 museum locations with employment of 100 or more people averaged 159,800 admissions each in 2003-04. This compares with an average of 41,300 admissions for museum locations with employment of 20-99, and 26,000 admissions for museum locations with employment of 1-19. Museum locations which were operated solely by volunteers had an average of 3,200 admissions. Of total museum admissions in 2003-04, 37.9% were to museum locations with employment of 100 or more.
Of the 54.9 million museum objects and artworks held by museums at the end of June 2004, only 9.7% were on display. The large majority (84.0%) of all museum objects and artworks were held by museums with employment of 20 or more. These museums displayed only 2.9% of their museum objects and artworks.
More information from the ABS survey of museums can be found in the Services Industries chapter.
12.6 MUSEUMS - 2003-04
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| | Units | NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT | Aust. |
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| Museum/gallery locations at 30 June | no. | 413 | 286 | 232 | 127 | 153 | ^61 | 35 | 23 | 1,329 |
| Museum objects/artworks at 30 June | '000 | 16,680.3 | 20,704.0 | 6,808.0 | 4,424.4 | 2,832.7 | 1,140.5 | 1,272.1 | 1,053.7 | 54,915.5 |
| Special exhibitions held | no. | ^1,198 | ^1,028 | ^496 | ^191 | ^188 | ^142 | 62 | 100 | 3,405 |
| Admissions | | | | | | | | | | |
| Paid | ’000 | ^3,883.8 | 3,203.5 | ^972.3 | 446.2 | 875.7 | *438.5 | *189.7 | 549.9 | 10,559.5 |
| Free | ’000 | ^5,817.2 | *6,588.1 | 1,760.6 | 1,575.7 | 1,209.7 | 397.6 | 416.2 | 2,865.5 | ^20,630.6 |
| Total | ’000 | ^9,701.0 | *9,791.6 | 2,732.8 | 2,022.0 | 2,085.4 | *836.1 | ^606.0 | 3,415.3 | ^31,190.1 |
| Employment at 30 June | no. | 2,542 | 2,011 | 816 | 316 | 627 | 170 | ^149 | 993 | 7,624 |
| Volunteers during the month of June | no. | ^7,853 | ^4,455 | ^2,793 | ^1,595 | ^1,729 | ^1,254 | 154 | 611 | 20,443 |
| Income | $m | 288.3 | 272.6 | 70.1 | 33.7 | 69.4 | 12.8 | 11.9 | 160.6 | 919.4 |
| Expenses | $m | 245.7 | 254.3 | 66.4 | 32.6 | 56.9 | 11.0 | 7.3 | 136.1 | 810.3 |
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| Source: Museums, Australia, 2003-04 (8560.0). |
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