Council confirms free exhibition admissions at Te Unua

Invercargill City Council confirms free exhibition admissions at Te Unua Museum of Southland

Invercargill’s new regional museum will include free entry to its exhibitions for all visitors.

Invercargill City Council confirmed it would not charge manuhiri (visitors) an entry fee to its exhibitions when it opened to the public, regardless of where they visited from, at its meeting on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Council’s Community and Regulatory Committee agreed to recommend a proposed admissions, access, and revenue approach that would mean entry to the new regional museum was free for all visitors. A number of admission fee scenarios – with different approaches to local, domestic, and international visitors – had been considered.

Council Group Manager Community Spaces and Places Rex Capil said the ‘Active Giving’ approach endorsed by elected members would see free general admission supported by the active encouragement of voluntary visitor contributions.

Alternative revenue opportunities would be developed for special or touring exhibitions, programmes, events, museum tours, the retail and café offering at Te Unua, and other premium visitor experiences, he said.

“Ultimately, choosing an admissions structure for a regional civic asset, like Te Unua, is much broader than simply looking at revenue generation,” he said.

“The admissions structure at Te Unua also has to balance public access and participation, including access to taoka and items of cultural significance, as part of a museum’s broader purpose as a key community asset. It is vital that our community is able to access the stories about its people and its place, without imposing barriers that would prevent them from visiting.”

Different admissions structure data from both the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, as well as other regional museums throughout New Zealand, had been considered when determining the best approach to take regarding Te Unua, Capil said.

Details on the budget for museum and heritage services would be included in Council’s upcoming Long-term Plan 2027-2037, which would go out for public consultation early next year.

The decision to make exhibition entry free to all visitors would not prevent Council from considering other admissions structure approaches in the future, Capil said.

Physical construction of the building was set to be completed by the end of this month, with further work to install the opening exhibitions and ready the facility for operation set to continue. Te Unua Museum of Southland is expected to open to the public next year, with an official opening date to be confirmed in 2027.

Visit teunua.nz for more information.