The QVMAG and the Tasmanian Local Government Act 1993

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The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery falls under the Local Government Act 1993 and under the Act " The Launceston City Council has the management and control of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and its contents and may sell and exchange the contents and generally act in such manner as appears best calculated to advance the objects of the institution."  If possession is, as they say, "nine points of the law" it might be extrapolated by some that LCC 'owns' the museum and its collections. 


However  there is a significant difference between 'ownership' and "management and control".  There would be little argument that the museum's collections are in 'Public Ownership'.  Strategic assets – Police & Armed Forces, Water, Roads,  Sewage Systems, the Electric Grid etc. – are kept under public ownership given that they are vital to national infrastructure and security and those areas which require the highest safety standards. Likewise, a Nation's, a State's , a Region's, cultural assets – cultural capital –  is arguably best held in Public Ownership. 


Given that there is an innate belief that National, State, Regional museums hold within their collections publicly owned cultural property – Indigenous & Nonindigenous – and held there for the common good this belief impacts itself upon the expectation a museum's Community of Ownership and Interest (COI) has for the museum's and its collections' management and accountability.


Rather than extrapolate 'ownership' from the Local Govt. Act 1993 it is more appropriate to characterise management and control as custody or stewardship. With this management and control comes both rights and obligations. The act provides for the right to " sell and exchange the contents" with the obligation to do so in "such manner as appears best calculated to advance the objects of the institution." All of this  is more analogous to enduring power of attorney than it might be to ownership. 


From a marketing perspective the assertion that LCC "owns and manages the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery" is, and has been, unhelpful  – counterproductive even. At the 2002 QVMAG Search Conference there were in attendance members of and residents from LCC's adjoining Local Govt. areas. At that time LCC residents had free entry to the QVMAG while people living a few streets away were required to pay a $10 per person entry fee. It is no surprise that attendances during the time of the $10 entry fee attendance levels at the QVMAG fell – and arguably dramatically. Furthermore, while on one hand there were complaints that:

•  LCC was picking up the lion's share of the QVMAG's costs;
•  The constituents of adjoining Councils were enjoying the benefits of the QVMAG at no cost;
• Adjoining Councils were not contributing to the QVMAGs recurrent costs;
• By comparison to Hobart, LCC's ratepayers were carrying all the costs and Hobart's ratepayers were making no real contribution to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery  etc. etc.

on the other hand, people living elsewhere were 'contributing' a great deal to the QVMAG via sponsorships and donations – and indeed still do.

While LCC asserts "ownership" – sometimes characterised by some as exclusive ownership – the incentive for these Councils to contribute to recurrent or project funding for the QVMAG is diminished. In the review of the QVMAG's governance this is an issue that is worthy of some consideration.

INDEX

The Ownership of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and its Collections – click here

The QVMAG‘s Community of Ownership and Interest – click here

Ownership and Marketing – click here