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Museums in Australia 1975 (Pigott Report)

On 10 April 1974 the Whitlam government established a Committee of Inquiry on Museums and National Collections. . This committee tabled the Museums in Australia 1975 : report of the Committee of Inquiry on Museums and National Collections including the report of the Planning Committee on the Gallery of Aboriginal Australia (Pigott Report), also known as the Pigott Report, on 5 November 1975.

The committee made a number of recommendations that sought to protect and preserve Australia’s cultural heritage, professionalise the Australian museum sector workforce and streamline governance and funding arrangements at the federal, state and local levels. Notably it also recommended the establishment of a national museum in Canberra and the establishment of a national maritime museum. Several of its recommendations were not followed up including the creation of an Australian Museums Commission.

Terms of reference
The terms of reference given to the Committee were as follows :

1. to advise on the scope, objectives and functions of an Australia Institute to develop, co-ordinate and foster collections, research and displays of historical, cultural and scientific material of national significance, giving particular attention to its relationship with Government and other institutions.

2. to recommend steps to establish such an institute;

3. in relation to the Australian Government’s direct field of responsibility and interest, to recommend measures which should be taken in the immediate future to: 1.

2. improve collection and conservation facilities for national material, with particular attention to research needs and training;

3.

4. ensure effective co-ordination of the Australian Government’s activities in this field;

5.

6. institute new developments and institutions, with particular attention to the establishment of a national museum of history in Canberra;

4. to recommend longer-term measures in the field of museums and collections, with particular attention to the Australian Government’s role in relation to state, local government, and institutional authorities.

Members
The committee was comprised of the following members :

• P. H. Pigott (Chairman)

• G. N. Blainey

• R. W. Boswell

• Mrs A. Clayton

• D. J. Mulvaney

• F. H, Talbot

• D. F. Waterhouse

• F. J. Waters

• E. E. Payne (Executive Member)

Recommendations
The main recommendations of the report were :

1. That an Australian Museums Commission be created as a statutory authority.

2. That the Australian Museums Commission divide museums into the categories of major museums, associated museums and local museums for the purposes of defining the level and range of government financial support.

3. That local museums form themselves into regional networks or associations to enable government support to be provided efficiently.

4. That museums be used more as a source of formal education by schools and universities.

5. That a national fund be set up to facilitate emergency acquisitions of collections in history, the fine arts, sciences and other areas of strong Australian interest.

6. That publicly funded museums meet a community need, use a suitable building, hold collections of historic significance and adequately display, catalogue and conserve these.

7. That cross agency Australian Government funding of museums be co-ordinated and conform to agreed principles.

8. That funds not be granted to museums which are so strongly directed towards tourism and entertainment that their standards of historical accuracy are violated.

9. That responsibility for all the Australian Government’s own museums should be placed under one Ministerial portfolio and that these museums should receive basic funding from that Ministry. These museums should also have the same access as State or municipal museums to the special assistance programs of the Australian Museums Commission.

10. That a Cultural Materials Conservation Institute be created to study and disseminate ways of preventing deterioration of fragile and perishable museum objects, especially under Australian climatic and other conditions.

11. That for training and development the establishment of a post-graduate course to train professional conservators at a degree-granting institution a system of training technical staff for museums on an apprenticeship basis special training programs in those aspects of Australian social economic and technological history which are increasingly central to museum collections and displays.”

12. That a Museum of Australia be established in Canberra and that its board of trustees be charged by Act of Parliament with the collecting, preserving, study and display of materials related to the Australia cultural history and the interaction between people and the Australian environment.

13. The creation of three specialist national museums: a national maritime museum, a national aviation museum and a Gallery or Museum of Australian Biography.

14. That Australian universities which operate museums or hold important collections either safeguard those collections adequately or arrange to transfer them on long-term loan to major museums.

15. That protective legislation be drawn up and enacted to protect historic shipwrecks along the Australian coast and historic sites on land.

16. That the Australian Government introduce specific legislation to regulate or prohibit the export of particular items or categories of items in order to retain rare Australian cultural material.

17. That Australia ratify and implement the UNESCO Convention of 1970 on the Means of Prohibiting, and Preventing, the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.

18. That a National Register of museum objects of national significance be established to assist in their conservation, display, study and the retention within Australia.

19. That consideration be given to changing legislation in order to provide tax incentives to those who donate valuable items of national significance to public museums, libraries and archival authorities in Australia.

Museum sector consultation
Committee members visited the major museums in all States and a range of other museums in Australia. The aim of these visits was to understand the problems experienced in museum administration through viewing museum facilities and collections and holding discussions with Boards of Trustees and museum staff. The committee also engaged consultants to report on smaller or newer museums outside the metropolitan areas in selected regions.

Four members of the Committee travelled to Europe and the United States of America in January and February 1975. During the six week trip more than 40 museums in 9 countries were visited with the main objectives being:.

"'to obtain first-hand knowledge about: • the organisational structure of museums and any developments towards the framing of national policies and programs for museums and national collections;

• museums which have been established in more recent years, and the approaches adopted in way of museum siting, design, facilities and display;

• facilities for the conservation of collections, and arrangements for the training of conservators;

• the funding arrangements for museums;

• the use of museums and their collections for research and education;

• particular types of museums which might stimulate or guide new initiatives in Australia, e.g. maritime, aviation, technology and national history museums.'"

The committee published notices in the national press in Australia and invited interested organisations, people and groups to make written submissions to the Committee. These notices provided the committee's terms of reference and sought to frame responses as follows : "'The Committee does not see museums as simply buildings where ancient objects are preserved and displayed. It sees museums as vital places of education, entertainment and research where facets of the daily life of past generations of Australians can be displayed and where our heritage of old trades, crafts and skills can be studied and practised. The Committee is interested in proposals relating to a museum of natural history, industrial archaeology and collections of working machinery or imaginative plans that can effectively recreate vanished ways of life.'"

Over 400 submissions were received including detailed submissions from major museums.