Our first year as Museums of History NSW has been a momentous one.

With free general admissions and the tireless generosity of our volunteers and members, donors and partners, we've welcomed over 630,000 visitors to our historic houses, museums, reading rooms and outreach programs. And many thousands more have enjoyed our gardens, or visited us online. Behind the scenes, it’s been an equally eventful and rewarding year. All our staff have played a role in working through the opportunities, responsibilities and processes that come with being this new organisation, while continuing our core work of caring for, developing and enhancing access to our collections, properties and resources.

Here are some of the year’s many highlights and achievements.

What a year!

WSRC Volunteer shoot

New year, new us

Museums of History NSW officially came into being on 31 December 2022, so we woke up to the new year literally ‘new’

The People's House: Sydney Opera House at 50 launch event

Exhibitions & events

It’s been wonderful to see visitors returning in numbers to our onsite exhibitions, events and programs, as well as taking up an expanding range of opportunities to experience them online

Digitisation of Susannah Place Collection items at the Museums Discovery Centre

Research & discovery

It happens everywhere, every day, across the organisation – the dual tasks of doing research and supporting others in their research and discovery

Lamps above bed in main bedroom

Collections & heritage

Caring for our collections, historic buildings and landscapes to preserve them for current and future generations forms the foundation of our work and our purpose

Student looking at woven sculpture of Opera House at Museum of Sydney for Whose Place program

Learning

This year, our Learning team welcomed over 49,000 students and teachers to our onsite and virtual learning programs

Carlin de Montfort, curator, holds up a convict shirt to the camera during a virtual excursion. He is standing behind a table of historical objects in the Meet the Convicts room on the top floor of the Hyde Park Barracks.

Outreach

Our work has always travelled well beyond our physical sites, but our fresh remit as Museums of History NSW brings new responsibilities and opportunities to connect with regional audiences and communities

VOL23

Supporters

Every day, our work is supported by a passionate group of volunteers, members, donors and others who contribute in countless ways to our operations

Volunteer stands in The Belgiorno Room at ACO Pier 2/3 Walsh Bay Arts Precinct

Partnerships

This year, we’ve embarked on some exciting new partnerships and strengthened many established ones

WSRC Marketing 2023

Commercial operations

Our commercial activities performed strongly, generating over a third of our income and providing often powerful touchpoints to our places and collections