AGY-984 | Sydney Opera House Trust

Full description

The Sydney Opera House is operated and maintained for the Government of New South Wales by the Sydney Opera House Trust, which is constituted as a body corporate under the Sydney Opera Trust Act, 1961 (Act No.9, 1961) which received assent on 14 March 1961.

The Sydney Opera House Trust was charged with:
(i) the administration, care, control, management and maintenance of the site,
(ii) the management of the Sydney Opera House as a theatre, concert hall and place of assembly to be used for the presentation of any of the branches of the musical, operatic, dramatic, terpsichorean, visual or auditory arts or a meeting place in respect of matters of international, national or local significance,
(iii) the promotion of artistic taste and achievement in any of the branches of the arts listed in the Act,
(iv) scientific research into, and the encouragement of, new and improved forms of entertainment and methods of presentation of entertainment.

The Ladies Committee of the Sydney Opera House Appeal Fund, under the auspices of the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, operated until 1988. All records of the appeals fund were transferred to the Trust's custody. (1)

The Sydney Opera House Trust (Amendment) Act, 1969 (Act No.24, 1969) took effect from 1 May 1969 and reconstituted the Trust as a board of management rather than a group of representatives of interests involved in the construction and operation of the Opera House. Membership of the Trust was also subject to an age limit of 70 years.

In 1970 the Sydney Opera House Trust re-established the Sydney Opera House Appeal Fund to receive corporate and individual donations. (2)

The Ministry of Cultural Activities was formed in 1971 drawing together a range of organisations. It comprised Art Gallery of New South Wales; Archives Office of New South Wales; Library of New South Wales; Australian Museum; Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences; New South Wales Film Council; Sydney Opera House; the Observatory; and the Advisory Committee on Cultural Grants.

The Commonwealth-owned area and facilities of the Man o'War Steps, Jetty and Watch-house were transferred to the State of New South Wales in 1972.

The Opera House area names (Concert Hall, Opera Theatre, Drama Theatre, Reception Hall, Exhibition Hall, Recording Hall, Harbour Restaurant) were approved by Cabinet in August 1972. The Chamber Music Hall/Cinema area was subsequently renamed as the Music Room. (3)

Staff of the Service Engineers Department and the Stage Operations Manager's Department were transferred from the Department of Public Works to the control of the Sydney Opera House Trust on 1 April 1973 and 1 May 1973. (4)

The opening festival season at the Opera House extended from 28 December 1973 to the 31 December 1973. The Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973.

The Dennis Wolanski Library of the Performing Arts was established in April 1974 following a donation of $10,000 from Mr Wolanski. Coinciding with this the Sydney Opera House Ladies Committee was reformed to assist the Library. (5) The Library had collected theatrical costumes, ephemera, and memorabilia plus the records of the Sydney Opera House. Major Library projects included the 1988 Building of the Century Exhibition, the ongoing Sydney Opera House Travelling Exhibition, and the 1995 Unseen Utzon Exhibition. The Dennis Wolanski Library of the Performing Arts was closed in 1996 and its collection dispersed.

In 1996 the management of the Sydney Opera House was restructured with the reformed organisation being based on four divisions - programming and commercial services, theatre services, finance and management services and heritage and property services. (6)

On 28 June 2007 the Sydney Opera House was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under the World Heritage Convention. It was the youngest cultural site to ever be included on the World Heritage List and one of only two cultural sites to be listed during the lifetime of its architect, Jorn Utzon (1918-2008). (7)

In 2013 the Opera House celebrated its 40th anniversary and the Trust began planning a Decade of Renewal leading to the NSW Government reserving $202 million for Stage 1 Renewal projects in 2015. (8) The Sydney Opera House Trust By-law 2015 commenced which in turn was repealed by the Sydney Opera House Trust By-law 2021 on 1 September 1921. These By-laws outlined regulations related to vehicles, persons on premises, powers of authorised officers and those around banning from premises and other offences, exercising of the Trust's function and trustee allowances. The By-law was automatically repealed every five years in accordance with the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989. At that time, the Sydney Opera House Trust was entitled to remake its By-law with updates that aligned to its current operating environment. (9)

In February 2020 the renewal of the Concert Hall began which was completed and launched in July 2022. (10)

Endnotes
1. Trustees of the Sydney Opera House report for the year ended 30 June 1969 in the Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1969-70-71, Vol. 9, p.95.
2. Trustees of the Sydney Opera House report for the year ended 30 June 1970 in the Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1969-70-71, Vol. 9, p.98.
3. Trustees of the Sydney Opera House report for the year ended 30 June 1973 in the Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1973, Vol. 3, p.630.
4. Ibid.
5. Trustees of the Sydney Opera House report for the year ended 30 June 1974 in the Joint Volumes of the Parliamentary Papers of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, 1974-75, vol. 5, pp.60 & 65.
6. Sydney Opera House Trust report for the year ended 30 June 1996, p.14.
7. Sydney Opera House website, Our Story, World Heritage, https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/our-story/world-heritage.html, (accessed 15 December 2022).
8. Sydney Opera House Annual Report 2020-2022, pp.13-14.
9. Sydney Opera House Trust By-law 2021, NSW Legislation website, 1 September 2021.
10. Sydney Opera House Annual Report 2020-2022, pp.12-13.

References
Ainsworth, H. I., 'The Sydney Opera House', in Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society (1973), Vol. 59, Part 3, pp. 153-161.