The Art Gallery of New South Wales is eliminating 45 full-time positions, including several high-profile curator and conservator roles, according to leaked confidential documents obtained by ABC Radio Sydney. The cuts represent approximately 11 percent of the gallery's 385 full-time equivalent positions at the state's premier art institution.
Among the positions being eliminated are the curator of Australian art, the curator of Asian art, the music and community curator, and two security guard roles. Additional cuts include the curator of film in international art, a new librarian position, and a paper conservator role. Only one of the gallery's seven executive positions – the director of program delivery – is being removed as part of the restructuring.
The job cuts were announced in October following a budget reduction of $7.5 million imposed by the New South Wales Treasury. This decision came after a 2024 review concluded that the new contemporary art wing had failed to generate sufficient revenue to cover its operational costs. Gallery staff staged protests against the announced cuts in October.
Troy Wright from the Public Service Association, the union representing gallery workers, argued that the cuts are not justified by visitor numbers. He noted that the gallery welcomed 2.3 million visitors last year, representing a 22 percent increase from the previous year. "The numbers speak for themselves – the visitation is through the roof at the art galleries," Wright said. "Our members don't understand this argument that it's both operational needs and due to not receiving the budgetary income from the new wing that they anticipated."
The union official criticized the proportionality of the cuts, arguing that more savings should have been found among upper management and building operations like climate control. "These cuts are to the very core of the workers in that place that deliver exhibitions to the public," Wright explained. "At the art gallery there are seven executive positions, they're cutting it by one. That is not proportionate to the way the cuts to the professional classes like the curators and the archivists and positions like that have been made."
Art Gallery of New South Wales Director Maud Page defended the cuts as necessary for maintaining the institution's financial sustainability. Page told ABC Radio Sydney that after removing one executive position, the gallery now has the leanest executive structure among all the state's cultural institutions. "It's no news that we have been facing a little bit of a funding cliff," she said. "To bring in exhibitions from overseas is now a lot more expensive."
Page acknowledged that the cuts might reduce the number of in-depth free exhibitions offered at the gallery, though she assured that the institution would continue operating seven days a week as usual. She noted that while visitor numbers have increased, guests are not necessarily purchasing tickets for special exhibitions or spending money at the gallery shop and restaurant.
New South Wales Arts Minister John Graham told ABC Radio Sydney Afternoons that the state government has actually increased arts funding, with the gallery's operational funding rising more than 70 percent over a five-year period. Graham revealed that the original proposal called for more than 50 job cuts, but this was reduced to include positions that are currently unfilled. "We've provided more funding, a number of those jobs aren't filled so it's now down to a number just over 30. That's good news," he said.
Graham admitted the challenges facing cultural institutions, stating: "We need organizations to fit within their budget. We're increasing funding, but it is a struggle to keep up, I want to be really, really honest about those challenges." He indicated that the state government is exploring changes to tax offsets to assist the cultural sector, where galleries and institutions are facing mounting financial pressures.
Celebrated artist Ben Quilty, who has served on the gallery board for nine years, defended Director Maud Page, who was appointed to her role in March of this year. "It's a terrible position for her to be in to have to cut anyone from the museum," Quilty told ABC Radio Sydney. He emphasized that the arts community is supporting Page and argued that the cuts raise important questions about government funding priorities for the arts.
Quilty placed responsibility for the cuts squarely on government budget decisions rather than gallery management. "I think it's important that we remember that these cuts are coming from government," he said. "Over the last 15 years, almost every year, there's been an efficiency dividend, which is a dressed-up cut to the bottom line of the Art Gallery of NSW."
Shadow Arts Minister Kevin Anderson defended the former Coalition government's record, highlighting their funding of the new wing's construction and the additional staff hired for the new spaces. "What we're seeing now is that infrastructure funding cut, therefore they're cutting staff as well," Anderson told ABC Radio Sydney. He characterized the cuts as "a kick in the guts for the arts sector," criticizing the current Labor government's approach to arts funding and institutional support.
