2024 was a tumultuous year for the South Australian Museum, which had to contend with blowback from an unpopular restructure and mooted gallery changes.

But its new director Dr Samantha Hamilton is not one to dwell on the past, saying she is focused on making SA Museum one of the country’s best.

“I heard that this institution is the heart and soul of the state … the community wants to see this museum excel,” she said.

“So, I feel like the focus is all about the present and where we’re heading. Of course, I acknowledge that there was disruption and issues.”

During a sit-down interview with InDaily, Hamilton said that the controversial “reimagining” of SA Museum – that was the undoing of former CEO David Gaimster – was “not something that I’m necessarily at all taking into the future”.

“I’m basing that on the feedback that we’ve received, the strong strategic direction that we’re taking, and it’s not about diminishing research or changing roles or culling anything like that – it’s actually celebrating and playing to our strengths,” she said.

It comes as SA Museum today released its new Strategic Plan (2025-2030), with Hamilton saying “it provides a clear framework for growing the contribution the Museum makes to its community through scientific and cultural research strategies that align to our collections, management, exhibitions, education, and outreach programs”.

Hamilton said that while it would be unrealistic to expect no gallery changes, they would only be undertaken in close consultation with the community.

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“We’re going to need to rotate things purely from a preservation perspective – that’s stewardship. So, I don’t want to make statements like, ‘We’ll never change’ – that’s unrealistic,” she said.

“Because we haven’t rotated those collections, the reality is, there is some damage, and we need to have that stewardship, and we need to consider them from a conservation perspective.

“If that Egyptian room means so much to some of the older people in the community, then I feel like I’m going to listen to that loud and clear.”

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One imminent change she did flag was opening up the back of house for museum-goers to see what happens behind the scenes.

“Some of the things I want to do are open up back-of-house opportunities so people can understand that and therefore then see how the exhibitions tie into that,” she said.

“‘How does the research and the sciences that happen invisibly, then get translated at the front?’ and people understand our role in that process.”

She also said research would be a core component of SA Museum under her leadership.

“We’re really linking it back to, ‘How does the research answer questions that are really important right now?’ – environmental questions, biodiversity questions, even cultural questions.”

While grateful for government funding, Hamilton was also keen to explore new funding opportunities, including partnerships with universities, industry and donors.

“The reality is nowadays that any organisation has to have a diversified income stream – you can’t just rely on one source – and so that’s the plan; I’m here to build those relationships,” she said.

Hamilton was named as SA Museum’s new director in September, bringing more than two decades of strategic leadership at cultural institutions.

She was most recently CEO of Rock Art Australia and is currently president of the Australian Institute for Conservation of Cultural Materials, while previously also holding senior leadership roles with Museums Victoria and Arts Centre Melbourne.

She also recently completed a PhD focused on ensuring best practice protocols in the preservation and accessibility of First Nations collections.

Hamilton hopes to leverage this experience in her new role, saying that her leadership style is informed by her background as a materials scientist and conservator.

“I really understand and have actually physically done the jobs of a lot of the staff, including leading IT or finance, and so therefore, I feel what I bring to the role is this very practical skill set, but then have learned those leadership skills as well,” she said.

During the interview, she was at pains to emphasise her collaborative style of leadership.

“I am very much a collaborator, and it’s about representing your community, because this collection belongs to the community – we’re just stewards, and I’m here to serve the community,” she said.

Asked why she would join SA Museum after so much controversy, Hamilton said, “I think I’ve just got a really strong ability to solve problems, and I really love that”.

She was also drawn to the museum’s “incredible history”.

“It’s got significant, amazing collections, from the First Nations collections that span the country, and they’re so significant to, of course, that scientific natural history part of the collection, which I love and adore as well,” she said.

Hamilton said that during the recent consultation, she found that SA Museum had “enormous support” from the community.

“It’s had its glory days, and it’s been such a key institution, and I’m here to work with people, to take it there, but also, ‘What else can we do with it?’,” she said.

“So, I think it was just an opportunity to think about, ‘How can I come here and work collaboratively with people?’ – because that’s what underpins my work always – to actually take the museum back to where it was and to the next level.

“They want us to be united, they want to know that we’ve got a clear strategy and that we’re going to do research, we’re going to do exhibitions and education, and that we’re going to engage with everybody, and that is what we’re going to do.”