National Gallery of Australia to cut staff amid coronavirus pandemic

The National Gallery of Australia will lay-off at least 10 per cent of its staff.

National Gallery of Australia director Nick Mitzevich. Picture: Sean Davey

The National Gallery of Australia will lay off at least 10 per cent of its staff as it moves to restructure and modernise the cultural institution amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

NGA director Nick Mitzevich has called for voluntary redund­ancies from the gallery’s 300 staff as it struggles to deal with rising costs and reduced donations.

He said the restructure would focus on creating opportunities to enable Australian and internat­ional audiences to enjoy the collecti­on beyond its physical pres­ence in Canberra.

“It’s a combination of reshaping the organisation to be smarter with technology and processes, and also asking private individuals to help with philanthropy, and ­selective cuts,” he said.

He said the gallery needed to change the way it connected with audiences across the globe.

“We, like every arts and cultur­al institution, have to look to create­ a future where we can sustainably deliver on our mandate,” the director said.

“We have needed a plan that will both improve and protect the gallery’s long-term offering and our financial stability. Inevit­ably, that means change.”

Mr Mitzevich said a voluntary redundancy process would be launched.

In a joint statement, opposition public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher and opposition arts spokesman Tony Burke called on the Morrison government to do more to support the cultural instit­utions sector.

“Reports that around one in eight jobs at the NGA will be cut is devastating for those who work hard to deliver exciting exhibitions and tell the stories of our ­nation through art,” they said.

“It also comes at a time when galleries around the country are hurting after being abandoned by the Morrison government during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Labor said the NGA’s management had been forced into the decision due to years of funding cuts.

“The 2014-15 budget delivered cuts to national institutions of $2.4m and in the 2015-16 MYEFO a further $36.8m was cut from cultural­ and collecting entities within the arts portfolio, including a cut of nearly $4m from the NGA,” the Labor pair said.

A spokesman for Arts Minister Paul Fletcher said the gallery was implementingmeasures that, while difficult for a number of staff, would make its operations more sustainable for the future.

“The government provides ­significant funding to cultural institutions­ such as the NGA, and all publicly funded bodies are expected­ to operate ­efficiently and deliver value for the public money that is being invested in them,” the spokesman said.