ANNUAL REPORT 2015–2016 HISTORIC HOUSES TRUST OF NEW SOUTH WALES The Hon Mark Speakman SC MP Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, and Assistant Minister for Planning Level 15, 52 Martin Place SYDNEY NSW 2000 Dear Minister On behalf of the Board of Trustees and in accordance with the provisions of the Annual Reports (Statutory Bodies) Act 1984, the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 and the Public Finance and Audit Regulation 2015, we submit for presentation to Parliament the Annual Report of Sydney Living Museums under the statutory authority of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales for the year ending 30 June 2016. Yours sincerely Michael Rose AM Mark Goggin Chairman Executive Director The Historic Houses Trust of NSW, SYDNEY LIVING MUSEUMS T 02 8239 2288 incorporating Sydney Living Head Office F 02 8239 2299 Museums, cares for significant historic The Mint E [email protected] places, buildings, landscapes and 10 Macquarie Street TTY 02 8239 2377 collections. It is a statutory authority Sydney NSW 2000 (telephone for people of, and principally funded by, with hearing disabilities) the NSW Government. This report and all our programs are published on our website sydneylivingmuseums.com.au CONTENTS CONTENTS From the Chairman 2 From the Executive Director 3 OUR ACHIEVEMENTS 4 CORPORATE PLAN 5 PERFORMANCE 6 KEY ACHIEVEMENTS 7 1 Involvement 8 2 Access & enjoyment 16 3 Conservation & curatorship 36 4 Stability 48 5 Wellbeing 54 6 Knowledge 56 OUR ORGANISATION 64 Who we are 65 Our museums 66 Our properties 70 Our collections 71 Endangered Houses Fund 72 Corporate governance 74 Foundation for the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales 86 APPENDICES 89 HHT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 105 Contacts 166 Program supporters & partners 167 Index 168 Corporate Partners 170 1 . ANNUAL REPORT 2015–16 FROM THE CHAIRMAN At Sydney Living Museums pleasure garden was a perfect setting for an artistic commission our aim is to create ‘A Future from the Sydney Festival’s Pleasure Garden. The evocative sound for the Past’ through the installation was inspired by the story and music of blind 17th-century careful custodianship of our musician and composer Jacob van Eyck, who was paid by the city of museums and our passion Utrecht to wander through the public gardens in the evening playing for engaging audiences with his recorder. Over three weeks in January, 10,424 visitors experienced a deep appreciation of our the installation. heritage. Over the past year Since re-launching our Foundation in late 2014, we have doubled we have worked hard to our Governors’ Circle, to more than 20 generous donors, deeply achieve our objective and committed to our conservation, collections and innovative we have reached significant programming. In September, we welcomed Edward Simpson, son milestones in three key areas: of Caroline Simpson, whose family bequest established the Caroline enhancing our properties Simpson Library & Research Collection, as the Chair of the SLM through effective conservation Foundation, along with new Foundation directors, Sian Nagle and and interpretation; giving Susannah Sweeney. The Foundation’s Vaucluse House Centenary more children, across the state, appeal made a significant contribution towards the refurbishment of a greater understanding of their heritage; and building valuable the drawing room, one of the finest colonial interiors in Australia, and partnerships to broaden and enrich our audiences. a new orientation room, to be opened in early 2017. This year, supported by $4.542 million in capital funding from The sheer scope of our work is made possible through the strengths the NSW Government, we continued our major conservation and of the institution: the expertise and innovation of our talented staff; maintenance program. These funds represent the second year of the dedicated workforce of 519 volunteers, delivering over 8100 a comprehensive eleven-year program valued at $30.8 million, hours of service; the generosity of our Foundation and Governors’ marking a new era in heritage investment to secure our places Circle; the investment of our corporate and commercial partners; the for future generations. So far, 105 individual projects have been creative efforts of our collaborative partnerships; and the steadfast completed. commitment, and funding support, of the NSW Government. I would To enhance access for children to our state’s most significant heritage like to thank and congratulate all those who have contributed to sites, the NSW Government provided $1.1 million over two years for our success. the Unlocking Heritage program. In its first year, the Travel Subsidy I would also like to acknowledge the dedication of our nine Trustees has benefited 7283 NSW primary students from regional and remote and 31 committee members across our five committees, who give schools, including 1262 students who experienced the Convict so generously of their time and expertise to support the mission and Sleepover program. For their generous support of these conservation governance of the institution. In particular, I would like to thank two and education initiatives, and their ongoing commitment to the retiring Trustees, Keith Cottier AM and Andrew Tink AM, who provided Historic Houses Trust of NSW, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable service for nine years and four years respectively. NSW Government, and in particular the Minister for Heritage, The Hon Mark Speakman SC MP. In June 2016 we welcomed new Trustees Sharon Veale, distinguished historian and Principal of GML, a leading heritage specialist Critical to understanding the history of our properties, and their consultancy; and, returning to the Board after an initial three-year cultural landscapes, we endorsed our first Aboriginal Action Plan. This term (2011–14), Roderick Simpson, planning and urban design sets out our commitment to Indigenous interpretation, consultation specialist and academic, and recently appointed as Environmental and community involvement. The Plan seeks to build knowledge Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission. of, and engagement with, the Aboriginal histories of our sites and create a sustainable cultural program that is meaningful and relevant Our exceptional results this year demonstrate that Sydney Living to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. Supporting this Museums is a strong, vibrant and financially sound institution that is work, we established an Aboriginal Advisory Committee chaired by well positioned to engage broader audiences with a deep love of Michael McDaniel, Professor of Indigenous Education and Director our unique heritage places. I look forward to working with Trustees, of Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology the Executive and staff, the NSW Government, our partners and Sydney. In a deepening community partnership, we welcomed Muru audiences, to continue creating ‘A Future for the Past’. Mittigar to Rouse Hill House & Farm, to bring Indigenous programs to school audiences. Our partnerships with cultural events, corporate sponsors, donors, producers and agencies across government are fundamental to our successful engagement with new audiences. Our collaboration with the Sydney Festival was an outstanding example of a successful partnership. In January, the beautifully revived Vaucluse House Michael Rose AM, Chairman Michael Rose AM 2 Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums . INTRODUCTION FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Our purpose is to enhance the than 50 buildings, and yielded the highest paid visitation to the event heritage values of our houses, since it was first offered in 1997, with 52,022 building visits across museums and gardens for Sydney, featuring Ultimo and Broadway precincts. current and future generations, Our success in audience engagement was mirrored by strong and to interpret our places with financial outcomes. For a third consecutive year, our net cost of passion and creativity. Indeed, service resulted in a surplus of $2.9 million, $0.7 million above capturing the power of the budget. Self-generated (non-recurrent) revenue of $8.8 million past is as much about memory (up 14% on the prior year) contributed significantly to this result. and emotion as it is about Major programs, such as Sydney Harbour Icons with LEGO® Bricks buildings and collections. This and Sydney Open, maintained box office revenue at an historic year our evocative, interactive high ($1.57 million), with a healthy increase in education revenue and meaningful programming ($0.6 million, up 17%). In partnership with Fresh Catering, we opened attracted both loyal and new two new food and retail concepts at The Mint: No.10 Store and No.10 audiences, and, increasingly, Bistro. With The Governor’s Table at the Museum of Sydney, and engaged with children and the tearooms at Vaucluse House, these leaseholds supported a families. To achieve sustainable significant uplift in hospitality patrons (up 23%), and a net profit for growth, we have continued to build the solid foundations of our commercial services of $0.94 million (up 8%). Several federal and financial stewardship, and strategically considered opportunities state government grants ($3.2 million), and growth in membership for our core sites to be enhanced in the future. revenue (up 53%) and corporate partners (up 83%), have all This year, Sydney Living Museums (SLM) welcomed almost 1,011,000 contributed to this solid financial result. visitors to our exhibitions, programs, museums and properties, Looking to the future, we