October 24, 2025
ICOM Australia Awards and Travel Fellowship recipients for 2025
The ICOM awards were presented at the ICOM Australia AGM in Sydney on 10 October 2025. The ICOM Australia Awards acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contributions made by individuals and Institutions in Australia that have strengthened international relations and enriched the cultural landscape of museum and galleries. Australian museums and galleries play a vital role in enhancing the cultural, social and intellectual lives of all Australians and contribute to well-informed, tolerant, and cohesive communities. International collaboration and the sharing of ideas and expertise are integral to furthering these endeavours.
2025 Institutional winner
National Gallery of Victoria for its Adaptive Climate Control Strategy
The NGV is also one of only five shortlisted candidates worldwide for the first ICOM International Award for Sustainable Development in Museums – read more here.
ICOM Australia Institution Award recipient NGV, Associate Director of Conservation, Michael Varcoe-Cocks with ICOM Australia Chair Jessica Bridgfoot
2025 Individual winner
Nici Cumpston OAM for her international advocacy work in representing, promoting and championing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations arts across Australia and internationally. Most recently she was appointed Director of the Kluge-Ruhe Art Collection at the University of Virginia.
Nici Cumpston OAM courtesy of Kluge -Ruhe
The ICOM Australia Travel Fellowship – 2025
The Committee was delighted to receive three excellent submissions for the ICOM travel fellowship which is in its third year. We are very pleased to announce that Finn Carey is the successful candidate for the 2025 Fellowship.
He is currently completing a Master of Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University with his academic work focused on the role of memory, power, and postcolonial legacies in history. He has worked across museums, archives, and cultural organisations in both community and institutional settings including the ANZ Banking Museum, the Hawthorn Football Club Museum, the Burke Museum, assisted Cancer Council Victoria in organising and interpreting its heritage archive, and supported conservation and visitor experience at Como House (National Trust of Victoria) and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Finn also has experience at the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
He plans to undertake a research-focused study tour of two institutions in Northern Ireland: the Museum of Free Derry and the Ulster Museum. His project will examine how museums in post-conflict societies represent violence, trauma, and contested memory—while recognising that, in places like Northern Ireland, the legacies of conflict are ongoing. Finn will produce a formal report to ICOM Australia, a presentation at the 2026 AGM, and a publishable reflective piece for ICOM or related networks. We look forward to his report next year.
