After a decade of cuts and neglect, the Albanese Labor Government has secured the future of Australia’s most cherished cultural and historical institutions.

In a pre-Budget announcement this week, the Government confirmed it will invest an extra $535.3 million in the nine National Collecting Institutions over four years – addressing the decade of chronic underfunding inflicted by the former Coalition Government.

The funding will be provided to the Australian National Maritime Museum, Bundanon Trust, Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House), National Archives of Australia, National Film and Sound Archive, National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.

The Government will also secure the long-term future of the National Library’s digital archive Trove, with $33 million over four years and crucially, $9.2 million per year in indexed ongoing funding. This provides certainty for the program and its many users for the first time.

This is wonderful news for Canberra as our national capital, for Canberrans, and all Australians, as it restores Australia’s cultural and historical institutions as a source of national pride.

This investment will guarantee ongoing, indexed funding into the future and ensure that vital repairs and urgent safety improvements can finally be made.

It means staff will have certainty about their jobs, and our institutions will be able to meet their financial obligations and invest for the future - knowing they finally have a Government that values them just as Australians do. 

This has been a key part of my advocacy as the Member for Canberra - where most of these institutions are located. 

The Albanese Labor Government is cleaning up the mess left behind by the previous Government and providing the necessary funding for the services that Australians rely on and cherish.