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Webster had steered the Art Gallery through its transformation and expansion as head of the Sydney Modern project, delivered on time and on budget.
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 Tuesday, 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. The gallery’s total funding from government fell from $72.4m for 2024-25 to $66.6m for 2025-26 including operating costs and capital expenses.
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