Annual Report-2000-2001 - Western Australian Museum - The ...

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BACKGROUND
Western Australian Museum Annual Report 2000–2001
The Western Australian Museum was established in 1891 (as the ‘Perth Museum’) and its initial collections
were of geological, ethnological and biological specimens. Indeed, it can claim to be one of the oldest
scientific institutions in the State. In 1959, its botanical collection was transferred to the new Herbarium and
it continued to concentrate on earth sciences and zoology. The 1960s and 1970s saw the addition of
responsibility for developing and maintaining the State’s anthropological, archaeological, maritime
archaeological and social and cultural history collections.
The collections, currently numbering more than two million specimens/artefacts, are the primary focus of
research by the Museum’s own staff and others. The Museum’s aim is to advocate knowledge about the
collections and communicate it to the public through a variety of media, but particularly through a program
of exhibitions and publications.
During the year, a total of 768,947 visitors, of whom 53,487 were school students, visited the various
Museum sites.
The Museum’s recurrent Consolidated Grant for this year was $10,904,000, plus $1,610,000 for Capital
Works. A further $2,150,182 was attracted from external funding sources, of which $496,818 comprised
research grants. The Museum has a total staff of 175.94 full-time equivalents.
ESTABLISHMENT
The Western Australian Museum is a statutory authority within the Arts Portfolio, established under the Museum
Act 1969. It is a Body Corporate with Perpetual Succession and Common Seal, governed by a Board of seven
Trustees, including the Chair and Vice-Chair. The Governor of Western Australia appoints the seven Trustees.
The Director General of the Ministry for Culture & the Arts, or their nominee, is a Trustee ex officio. Appointments
are made for four years and incumbents are eligible for reappointment.
Under section 36 of the Museum Act, the Trustees have established the following branches of the Western
Australian Museum, each with a Board to which certain powers and authority have been delegated, under
section 19 of the Act:
• Western Australian Museum–Science and Culture (Perth site; Fremantle History Museum)
• Western Australian Maritime Museum (based at Cliff Street, Fremantle)
• Western Australian Museum–Albany
• Western Australian Museum–Kalgoorlie-Boulder
• Western Australian Museum–Geraldton
The Museum also operates Samson House in Fremantle.
ACCOUNTABLE AUTHORITY
Introducing the
Western Australian Museum
The Trustees are the Accountable Authority for the purposes of the Financial Administration and Audit Act
1985.