Museum Development Program

About the program

The Museum Development Program provides best-practice museum expertise to heritage and collecting institutions across the state. Queensland Museum in conjunction with Arts Queensland run a unique program that provides community organisations an opportunity to access museum expertise through professional development and project based activities. The Museum Development Officers, also known as MDOs, have extensive experience in working with regional and remote communities and understand the challenges and opportunities that community collecting organisations face.

There are five professionally qualified Museum Development Officers based in Townsville, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Mackay and Cairns. The team is available to help right across Queensland.

The MDOs work in providing care and support for Queensland’s regional community heritage collections. This includes:

First Nations communities and Keeping Places
Community museums
Historical societies
Local history libraries

Archives
Multicultural groups
Regional councils and local government organisations
Returned Services Leagues (RSLs)

Map of Queensland showing where Museum Development Officers are located

Our services

The MDOs work on a range of projects such as:

Collection management
Exhibition development and production
Conservation, preservation, and preventative conservation
Disaster planning and recovery
Collection storage and rehousing
Museum and collection store design and fit out
Significance and preservation needs assessments

Strategic planning
Policy development
Volunteer management and procedures
Public programs
Cultural planning
Grant writing
Workshops and training (in all the areas listed above)

This work is done either on a fee for service basis or provided free of charge. Please contact your local MDO to discuss. Also visit our Queensland Museum and Community Collections blog for more information, helpful links and online resources.

View blog

View the Caring for Collection video series in collaboration with State Library of Queensland.