MUSEUMS
PURPOSE
To collect economic and activity data about museums.
DESCRIPTION
The Museums Survey was conducted as part of the Service Industries Surveys in respect of the financial year 2003-04. Its scope was organisations that were engaged in the operation of museums and art galleries which were open to the general public during the 2003-04 reference year. These operations included the display, storage and preservation of museum objects and artworks. The museums 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. The sample was selected from organisations classified to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) Class 9220 - Museums, and also from other museums registered as having a collection with Australian Museums and Galleries OnLine (AMOL).
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Irregular
DATA ITEMS
Number of museums
The number of museum/gallery establishments operating as at the end of the reference period.
Type of museum
Records the major focus of the museum. The categories of major focus are:
Social history museum
Natural history or science museum
Art museum/gallery
Historic property
Other museums
Workforce
The total number of museum workers, both employed and volunteer.
Workforce status
Indicates whether museum workers are employed or volunteers.
Main work activity
Records the type of work activity in which museum workers spent the majority of their time. The types of activity are:
Managerial and administrative
Research, collection management and conservation
Exhibition display and design
Security, guides and front-of-house
Other
Employment
The collection classifies employed museum workers into a number of categories. These are each in turn classified by whether full-time or part-time. The categories are:
Working proprietors and partners
Employees paid by the museum
Employees paid by a related organisation
Volunteer hours
The number of hours worked by volunteer museum workers during the last month of the reference period.
Income
The items which make up the income of museums are:
Funding from Federal Government
Funding from State/Territory Government
Funding from Local Government
Annual allocations from related private sector organisations
Financial sponsorships
In-kind sponsorships
Donations
Bequests
Other fundraising income
Admissions
Subscription and membership income
Sales of goods
Other income
Expenses
The items which make up the expenses of museums include:
Wages and salaries
Employer contributions to superannuation funds
Workers' compensation costs
Fringe benefits tax
Payroll tax
Purchases of art works, artefacts and other museum objects
Conservation expenses
Other repair and maintenance expenses
Exhibition and display development expenses
Advertising, marketing and promotional expenses
Other expense items
Other economic characteristics
Other economic characteristics for which information is available are:
Value of inventories
Value of assets by sub-categories
Value of liabilities by sub-categories
Owners' equity
Capital expenditure on art works, artefacts and other museum objects
Other capital expenditure
Disposal of assets
Weekly hours of operation
The average number of hours per week that the museum was open to the public during the reference period.
Admissions
Indicates the numbers of paid and free admissions during the reference period.
Special exhibitions
Records the category of origin of special exhibitions or displays held on the museum's premises during the reference period. The categories are:
Exhibitions curated or developed in-house
Touring exhibitions curated or developed elsewhere in Australia
Exhibitions imported from overseas
Exhibitions toured
Indicates the number of special exhibitions curated or developed in-house which were toured to other venues.
Number of museum objects
The number of artefacts, art works and other museum objects held by the museum at the end of the reference period.
Characteristics of museum objects
Museum objects may be categorised by:
Whether on display for public viewing
Whether documented in manual or written form
Whether documented in electronic form or on computer
Whether acquired during the reference period
Whether surveyed or formally assessed for preservation or conservation treatment in the two years to the end of the reference period
Whether requiring preservation or conservation treatment as at the end of the reference period
Characteristics of Internet access
Museums may be categorised by:
Whether they had access to the Internet on their premises as at the end of the reference period
Whether they had their own web site or other web presence as at the end of the reference period
Whether, during the reference period, staff accessed the AMOL web site to care for museum objects
Number of personal computers
The number of personal computers available for use by staff on the museum's premises as at the end of the reference period.
Characteristics of museum administration
Museums may be categorised by whether they had in place, as at the end of the end of the reference period:
A written collection management policy
A written disaster preparedness plan
Organisation size
The size of the organisation in terms of its number of employees. This can be grouped into ranges such as:
Nil employees
1-4
5-19
20-99
100 and more
Geographic area
Data are available for Australia and States and Territories.
HISTORICAL DATA
The collection was previously conducted in respect of 1996-97 and 1999-2000. Changes to scope and coverage for the 2003-04 collection render the data not directly comparable with data from earlier collections.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005, Museums, Australia, 2003-04, Cat. no. 8560.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $18.50. Also available for 1999-2000.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998, Libraries and Museums, Australia, 1996-97, Cat. no. 8649.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $17.50.
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
Manager
Service Industries Surveys
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
Telephone: Canberra 02 6252 5633
Facsimile: Canberra 02 6252 7004
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
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