Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art to charge entry fee after decades of free admission

The Museum of Contemporary Art has been free to the public for decades, but a funding crisis means it will start charging $20 entry fees.

The Sydney museum, which holds the only public collection in Australia dedicated to the work of living artists, attracts about a million visitors each year.

The MCA’s striking Art Deco-style building on Sydney’s Harbour’s foreshore at The Rocks is a popular attraction and one of the drawcards during the annual Vivid festival.

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“We are disappointed to have to introduce a general admission charge however we want to ensure MCA Australia remains a world-class contemporary art museum — one that Sydney deserves,” MCA chair Lorraine Tarabay said.

She noted government-owned museums were funded to support free access but the MCA, run by an independent not-for-profit organisation, received a fraction of the money given to other institutions.

“We are grateful to the government for their continued support, however significant cost escalation combined with stagnant funding has necessitated this move,” Tarabay said.

MCA Australia will introduce the charge from the end of January but says it wants to maintain free entry for children younger than 18 and Australian students.

Ongoing government funding of $4.36 million pays for 14 per cent of operating costs, while 85 per cent of annual revenue comes through donations and commercial activities, according to the museum.

“I think because the MCA has been so successful, it’s so present, it’s so visible, people assume we are as well-funded by the taxpayers’ pockets as other museums, but we are not,” director Suzanne Cotter said.

Creative Australia funding which the museum had relied on for a decade was not renewed in 2024, she said.

At a state level, operational funding had been stagnant since 2008, and any increases had not kept pace with inflation and cost hikes, Cotter said.

A NSW government spokesperson said the museum received more than $7 million in direct and in-kind funding from the state in 2024.

Earlier in 2024, Create NSW and federal funding body Creative Australia commissioned an independent review to find where savings could be made.

“As with any significant investment from government, the review recommended the MCA prepare a fully evidenced business case that includes transparent financial assumptions and costed initiatives to support its request for additional support,” the NSW government spokesperson said.

Cotter said the museum had already provided an extensive business case and financial information and implemented cost-saving measures such as closing one day a week.

More than a third of the MCA’s collection of more than 4700 artworks are by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.

It has also helped to launch the careers of artists such as Lindy Lee and Tracey Moffatt.