BOARD OF THE 23 August 2018 The Honourable Leeanne Enoch MP QUEENSLAND MUSEUM Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts GPO BOX 5078 ANNUAL REPORT BRISBANE QLD 4001 Dear Minister 2017-18 I am pleased to submit for presentation to the Parliament the Annual Report 2017-2018 and financial statements for the Board of the Queensland Museum. I certify that this annual report complies with: • the prescribed requirements of the Financial Accountability Act 2009 and the Financial and Performance Management Standard 2009, and • the detailed requirements set out in the Annual report requirements for Queensland Government agencies. A checklist outlining the annual reporting requirements can be found at page 91 of this annual report. Yours sincerely David Conry Chair Board of the Queensland Museum CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION 2 VISION, MISSION, PURPOSE 3 QUEENSLAND MUSEUM NETWORK 7 BOARD OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM 8 CHAIR’S OVERVIEW 9 DIRECTOR’S OVERVIEW 10 HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS 14 BACKGROUND 14 GOVERNMENT OBJECTIVES FOR THE COMMUNITY 15 STRATEGIC PLAN 2016–2020 15 OPERATIONAL PLAN 2015–2019 15 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT 16 OUTCOMES 17 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 17 SERVICE AREAS 42 PERFORMANCE MEASURES 43 FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 43 SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE 45 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 69 CERTIFICATE OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 70 INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT 73 GOVERNANCE 73 MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE 86 RISK MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 87 HUMAN RESOURCES 88 OPEN DATA DISCLOSURE OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 90 GLOSSARY 91 COMPLIANCE CHECKLIST 92 PUBLICATIONS 2017-18 98 GRANTS 2017-18 2 BOARD OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 INTRODUCTION VISION To be the premier museum in Australasia, connecting real objects and contemporary research with communities, creating authentic and compelling experiences and stories that inspire, enrich and empower. MISSION To inspire generations of Queenslanders to discover, celebrate and value our distinctive natural and cultural environments. PURPOSE Connecting real objects and contemporary research with communities across the state and beyond, creating authentic and compelling experiences and stories that inspire, enrich and empower. A network of museums without borders that inspires curiosity to connect the past, make sense of the present, and help navigate the future in our communities, classrooms and online. BOARD OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 3 QUEENSLAND MUSEUM NETWORK Queensland Museum Network (QMN) is the keeping place Over the years QMN has changed with Queensland as it for the State Collection of about 1.2 million objects and discovers, documents and celebrates the state’s natural, specimens, valued at $551.36 million, and more than 14 cultural and scientific diversity. With respected scientific million research collection items. and cultural research, significant and varied collections, The Queensland Museum was founded in January 1862 and community outreach services, QMN continues to offer by the Queensland Philosophical Society. QMN has grown Queensland’s residents and visitors enriching cultural, considerably since then with the Museum coming under social and intellectual experiences. the responsibility of the State Government in 1871 and QMN reaches far beyond the walls of its museums, moving into its first purpose-built premises in 1879. Today, connecting with millions of people through museum QMN is governed by the Board of the Queensland Museum experiences, events, workshops, talks and lectures, (the Board) and includes: school education kits, publications, online resources and • Queensland Museum (including the Sciencentre) in the regionally across the state via our Museum Development heart of Brisbane’s Cultural Precinct at South Brisbane Officer Network and World Science Festival Brisbane programming. We continually strive to be a cultural and • Cobb+Co Museum in Toowoomba scientific leader by successfully harnessing the support • Museum of Tropical Queensland in Townsville of industry, governments and communities. • The Workshops Rail Museum in Ipswich • Queensland Museum Collections, Research and Loans Centre at Hendra, Brisbane • Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying in Woolloongabba, Brisbane • Earth Sciences Museum, The University of Queensland, Brisbane. 4 BOARD OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 QUEENSLAND COBB+CO MUSEUM MUSEUM South Brisbane | Opened 1986 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba | Opened 1987 Queensland Museum (QM) is the Network’s flagship Cobb+Co Museum (C+C) houses the National Carriage campus in the heart of Brisbane’s Cultural Precinct. Collection and tells the story of Toowoomba, exploring Permanent galleries include: the Sciencentre; the Discovery how horse-drawn vehicles shaped our social history and Centre where visitors can interact with hundreds of objects, its impacts on Australia’s development. C+C is home to animals and fossils; the Lost Creatures gallery about permanent exhibitions, nationally and internationally Queensland dinosaurs and megafauna; and the Wild State touring exhibitions, the National Carriage Factory, a series gallery showcasing Queensland’s unique biodiversity. QM of Hands on Workshops and education programs. regularly hosts national and international touring exhibitions and houses a significant proportion of the State Collection 2017-18 HIGHLIGHTS: as well as several research and conservation laboratories. • C+C had a recording-breaking year with 116,120 visitors, During 2017-18, QM attracted a record 2,140,603 visitors to an increase of 13 per cent on last year, the previous the Queensland Cultural Centre. best year. • The international touring Da Vinci Machines exhibition 2017-18 HIGHLIGHTS: attracted 51,420 visitors from 9 December 2017 to 27 May • QM once again experienced record visitation with more 2018, an average of 307 a day, and increased regional than 2.1 million people visiting its exhibitions, galleries visitation by 69 per cent compared to the same period and World Science Festival Brisbane. the previous year. • World Science Festival Brisbane (WSFB) 2018 attracted • The nationally touring Happy Birthday Play School record-breaking crowds with more than 200,000 visitors exhibition from the National Museum of Australia ran in Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Chinchilla, Gladstone from 28 March to 15 October 2017 with a total of 71,305 and Townsville. visitors, with 43,236 during 2017-18. • The international touring exhibition Gladiators: Heroes • C+C was the venue for the first Lost Trades Fair in of the Colosseum attracted almost 87,000 visitors and its Queensland on 7 and 8 October 2017 attracting 7,526 Win a Trip to Rome competition received 35,000 entries. visitors to see demonstrations of heritage trades. • Unique after-hours museum experiences and • The annual Hand Made Under the Stars market on programming continued to delight visitors and were 30 November 2017 attracted 3,767 visitors looking frequently sold out events. The family-friendly Night to purchase unique products from more than 70 at the Museum was hosted seven times and 18+ After local artisans. Dark events nine times and more than 100 children and • The Have Another Look Captain Cook education parents joined us at QM’s first ever annual sleepover program, the annual celebration of local Aboriginal event Good Night at the Museum. history, ran from 31 July to 4 August 2017 and attracted • The new SparkLab, Sciencentre due to open in 1,724 students from 28 schools. September 2018 was created in partnership with Science • The Hands on Workshops activity was reviewed with Museum, London, part of the Science Museum Group. a new bespoke program released resulting in sold out • Our scientists described 136 new species – the most workshops from February to June 2018. described in half a decade – including Desis bobmarleyi, • WSFB returned to Toowoomba on 16 and 17 March 2018, listed in the World Register of Marine Species top 10 attracting more than 1,040 visitors to the Bugs and most remarkable species discovered in 2017. Drugs: The Resistance Wars conversation event at the • The Anzac Legacy Gallery development made significant Empire Theatre, Street Science shows and a dedicated progress including the dramatic overnight return of the schools program at C+C. German tank Mephisto to South Bank via a 220 tonne crane and the complete removal of the front museum façade. As one of Australia’s most significant war relics, Mephisto will be a key centrepiece of the gallery, which will open in November 2018 on Level 1. • The Museum Café underwent a fresh new refurbishment to better cater to the growing needs of our visitors. The renamed Café Muse operated by Fresh Catering opened in time for WSFB 2018 crowds. • The British Museum’s Egyptian Mummies: Exploring Ancient Lives opened in March 2018 and has attracted more than 87,000 local, interstate and international visitors to the first half of its season. BOARD OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM ANNUAL REPORT 2017–18 5 MUSEUM OF THE WORKSHOPS TROPICAL RAIL MUSEUM QUEENSLAND North Street, North Ipswich | Opened 2002 70–102 Flinders Street, Townsville | Opened 1987 The Workshops Rail Museum (TWRM), a multiple Queensland and Australian Tourism Award winner, is Museum of Tropical Queensland (MTQ) explores the natural located in the regional city of Ipswich, the birthplace of and cultural heritage of the state’s northern region, including rail in Queensland. It offers an interactive cultural heritage the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforests of the Wet