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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n After five years, the Powerhouse Museum<\/a> is axing a highly contentious $2.6 million artistic consultants\u2019 program amid criticism that the institution was \u201coutsourcing by stealth\u201d and calls by a parliamentary inquiry for greater transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n Artist Agatha Gothe-Snape, chef Kylie Kwong, photographer Zan Wimberley and former book publisher Julie Gibbs are among nine creatives hired as artistic associates to collaborate with the Powerhouse\u2019s curatorial, collections, writing, exhibitions and public programming teams over the lifespan of the initiative.<\/p>\n The museum confirmed the remaining two roles will cease ahead of the opening of its new $1.1 billion-plus headquarters later this year.<\/p>\n Since 2020, the program has been a source of deep internal tension with the Public Service Association (PSA). The union told a recent parliamentary inquiry<\/a> that its members believed the associates were performing the duties of public servants, including those of in-house, professionally accredited curators.<\/p>\n The inquiry into arts funding recommended the museum restore and retain specialised in-house curatorial expertise and positions consistent with the museum\u2019s legislative purpose.<\/p>\n Related Article It called for the museum to publish the cost, purpose, duration, selection process and \u201cdeliverables of artistic associate and similar externally engaged roles, and ensure such roles supplement rather than replace core curatorial functions\u201d.<\/p>\n The associates were granted access to Powerhouse facilities \u2013 including workspaces, digital studios, the Powerhouse Collection and the Research Library and Archives \u2013 while working alongside museum staff to develop exhibitions and programs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has clearly been outsourcing by stealth,\u201d PSA assistant secretary Troy Wright told the parliamentary hearing into arts funding in December. \u201cIt is also clear that the cost of these roles is a major concern. In the course of the past four years, spending on these roles has skyrocketed.\u201d<\/p>\n In its first year (the 2021-22 financial year), four artistic associates cost the museum $142,000. At its peak last financial year, the museum spent $871,226 on six associates: Gothe-Snape, Wimberley, Kwong, Gibbs, writer Ceridwen Dovey and architecture academic Ainslie Murray.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The museum told the Herald this financial year it would spend $362,823 on Dovey and Kwong \u2013 the latter joining the museum shortly after closing her Eveleigh restaurant, Lucky Kwong, in 2024. Inclusive of licensing fees, this brings payments to a total of $2.6 million.<\/p>\n The museum has refused the Herald\u2019s application under freedom-of-information laws for full disclosure of total payments to Kwong, Gothe-Snape and Wimberley.<\/p>\n The NSW Audit Office has previously been critical of spending on consultants, estimating that government agencies spent $1 billion on consultancies from 2017-18 to 2021-22. However, these figures do not always capture fees, expenses, travel and contractual add-ons.<\/p>\n Related Article Citing prejudicial business interests, private information and commercial-in-confidence in its determination, the museum rejected the public interest argument for a full breakdown of the trio\u2019s remuneration. That decision is now under appeal. The museum also stated disclosure would expose them to the \u201crisk of harm or of serious harassment or serious intimidation\u201d.<\/p>\n In a sector where hundreds of artists compete for small grants, \u201cit is simply not acceptable for large payments to consultants to be kept secret, particularly when the public is being asked to trust that this money delivers cultural value\u201d, inquiry chair and Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, though, this reflects a growing trend by the Minns government to avoid scrutiny of its decisions by preventing citizens and members of parliament from accessing documents they should ordinarily be entitled to receive, and which are in the public interest to be released.\u201d<\/p>\n Conflict-of-interest documents that were released show chief executive Lisa Havilah declared prior and current professional relationships with Wimberley, Gothe-Snape and two other associates in January 2022 as part of the expression-of-interest process. Before 2025, the museum said such declarations were covered by the institution\u2019s standard code of conduct supplemented by annual disclosures.<\/p>\n Havilah said that during the associates\u2019 program, the museum\u2019s curatorial team expanded from 20 to 32 full-time curators, employed in more generalist roles focused on exhibition making and collection development. The union says many of these new roles went to those without professional curatorial academic qualifications.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThe strategic intention of artistic associates is to bring together industry leaders to connect the museum nationally and internationally and to work across teams on the museum\u2019s renewal, and was implemented specifically to navigate a period of unprecedented change,\u201d Havilah said. \u201cThe end of the program is unrelated to the parliamentary inquiry. Now that the infrastructure programs are close to completion at Parramatta, we are ready to open.\u201d<\/p>\n The museum stated that the associates had worked on the Powerhouse Parramatta Time Capsule; research and curatorial frameworks for the five inaugural exhibitions; documentation of the construction for its collection and archives; a residency program developed in collaboration with the Cit\u00e9 Internationale des Arts in Paris; a partnership with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation; and a First Nations applied arts and sciences exhibition presented at the Museo de Arte.<\/p>\n A union spokesperson said it was glad to see the program end: \u201cThe program was a consultancy exercise, and our members were directed to report to the associates, despite them not being employees. The associates appear to have been among the better-paid consultants in the NSW government, and the PSA would much rather see that funding go toward employing people permanently in professional museum roles.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, and separately from the external consultancy program, the NSW Department of Creative Industries has defended delays to an investigation launched into allegations of serious \u201cwrongdoing\u201d at the Powerhouse Museum.<\/a><\/p>\n It has been more than seven months since a staff whistleblower made a protected complaint \u2013 believed to be the second made under the Public Interest Disclosures Act, which shields complainants from retribution.<\/p>\n \u201cMatters under consideration are complex and involve multiple lines of inquiry. The department has a responsibility to address these matters with due diligence and procedural fairness,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cAs the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for the department to provide further comment at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Want more arts coverage? We\u2019ve got you.<\/p>\n The Booklist is a weekly newsletter for book lovers from Jason Steger. Get it delivered every Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Agatha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/d81a4922520e0b99e324a821a0fbcbdb9204bbd1f1cc5ec5e1ca4ed2e052714a.jpeg\")
Agatha Gothe-Snape, Kylie Kwong and Julie Gibbs were among the nine consultants hired during the program.Art by Matt Willis<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779229753_223_2bbe5da13b6645aed420013cee08f104131b9568.jpeg\")
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