QVMAG GOVERNANCE SUBMISSION: Background Links

INTRODUCTION

This paper is set against the background of the recent failures and weaknesses that have exposed themselves in the operation of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG). The malfunctions that led to the dismissal of the Museum’s Director are self-evident.

It is asserted that the QVMAG is “owned and operated by Launceston City Council” (LCC) but it is not quite that simple given the holdings in its collections and the intellectual property of researchers, artists, writers and others. Along with that there is the investment of cultural capital of Tasmanians and others embodied in the collections. This is no small thing.

Failures and weaknesses of governance, and consequently the failures and weaknesses of management that flow on from that, put the treasures held by the QVMAG in jeopardy.

It is significant that LCC has exposed the reality that collectively the Aldermen have abandoned the political process – the representation of their constituency – in the governance of the QVMAG. This is evidenced by the Mayor’s statement that the QVMAG will have a strategic plan, which is tantamount to an admission that there is not such an instrument already in place – a failure of governance that impacts heavily upon the opportunities to deliver effective management and quality assured outcomes.

In essence, LCC has broken the chain of accountability that the institution’s Community of Ownership and Interest (COI) – ratepayers, taxpayers, government funding agencies, researchers, donors, sponsors, etc. – have a right to expect given their investment – financial, in-kind and cultural – in the institution. Given that it has been reported that the collection’s insurance valuation is in the order of 230 million dollars this both places a financial perspective on what is at risk and simultaneously an indication of the seriousness of the failures.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Background Links

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