Dozens of jobs to go as Art Gallery of NSW faces budget crisis
By Linda Morris
Two years after the grand opening of its landmark new home for contemporary art, the Art Gallery of NSW is set to slash dozens of roles in a restructure aimed at saving the institution $7.5 million annually.
Details of the “change management plan” were announced in briefings to the gallery’s staff by new director Maud Page on Tuesday morning and will likely affect around 50 positions across all the institution’s departments, this masthead has learnt.
Page acknowledged the cuts were significant but unavoidable and were a last resort measure to ensure the financial sustainability of the gallery she led.
The decision to cut staff has fallen to Maud Page, announced in March as the new director at the Art Gallery of NSW - its first female director in 154 years.Credit: Peter Rae
“After five months at the helm, it’s become apparent that a reduction in staff roles is necessary to secure a sustainable future for the institution we all care deeply about,” she said. “It’s certainly not how I had hoped to begin my directorship, but I’m comforted that we are doing this from a position of strength with the highest visitation in our history.
“The executive team and board of trustees explored every possible avenue to reduce operating expenses. Despite these extensive efforts, changes to our staffing structure are unavoidable to ensure the long-term future of the institution can serve our community for years to come.”
The cutbacks are the latest to hit the public service, and follow a restructure of the state arts funding agency, Create NSW, affecting one quarter of its workforce, with union predictions that final job losses may run deeper. Some 950 jobs are also to be cut from top-heavy Transport for NSW.
A smaller round of cuts were announced by the 153-year-old gallery in June last year, affecting 23 unfilled full-time positions and nine other positions to achieve savings of $4.2 million. With new hirings, the actual workforce effectively fell by four.
It’s now acknowledged the art gallery needs to lower its operating expenses and make $7.5 million in annualised savings towards its budget shortfall. To help meet this target, the gallery would reduce its structure and functions.
As part of the organisational change process, the position of director program delivery, held by Sally Webster, has been formally removed effective from Tuesday.
Webster had steered the Art Gallery through its transformation and expansion as head of the Sydney Modern project, delivered on time and on budget.
Opposition arts spokesperson, Kevin Anderson, called on government to “come clean” on the impact this latest round of public sector staff cuts would have on the gallery
“This isn’t just reducing a headcount, but erasing years of knowledge and expertise which will leave the arts sector in NSW worse off,” he said.
The proposed staffing changes had been carefully considered and calibrated across the institution and all grades, the gallery said.
A Treasury audit in 2024 suggested the gallery had been operating at much higher staffing levels than comparable institutions.
Arts Minister John Graham then handed the gallery a one-off $12.1 million top-up payment to address a looming $16 million black hole.
The financial position is a salient lesson for the Powerhouse which opens its Parramatta headquarters next September. Sydney Modern, also known as Naala Badu, opened on time and on budget with some of Sydney’s wealthiest families contributing $109 million towards the project’s $344 million total cost.
But new or expanded cultural institutions tend to strike financial trouble in their second or third years of operations because the cost of running them is often greatly underestimated, and, long term, government funding rarely matches the institution’s ambitions.
Formal consultation with staff will take place over three-weeks and conclude on September 2.
This year’s budget papers show the gallery is to spend $51 million on wages this financial year, almost half its $109 million expenses. The gallery has agreed to raise $36 million from its two gift shops, restaurants, private functions and box office, and to this end has been promoting membership packages. Its total funding from government fell from $72.4 million for 2024-25 to $66.6 million for 2025-26 including operating costs and capital expenses.
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