Powerhouse Parramatta CEO Lisa Havilah Stands Aside Before Opening

Powerhouse chief executive Lisa Havilah has stood aside while New South Wales government investigations into governance and procurement continue, 72 days before Powerhouse Parramatta is due to open on November 7. No formal findings have been announced, and the museum’s base building is complete, but the leadership change lands during the installation of five opening exhibitions involving more than 3,000 objects.

 
 

What the New South Wales Government Actually Announced

The government’s August 27 leadership statement says Havilah stood aside “following new allegations” while investigations into governance and procurement are finalized. It does not identify the allegations, the purchases or appointments under examination, the investigating body, or a completion date.

Standing aside while an inquiry proceeds is not a finding of wrongdoing, and the announcement does not say Havilah resigned or was dismissed. Her verified employment status is limited to standing aside pending the inquiries; a permanent departure has not been announced.

ABC News reported that the responsible department described the matters as complex and involving multiple lines of inquiry. The department also said no formal findings or conclusions had been made and cited its duties of due diligence and procedural fairness. ABC’s report carried no response from Havilah.

Powerhouse Trust president David Borger told ABC Radio Sydney that the November 7 opening would proceed. That is the institution’s current commitment, not evidence that the inquiry cannot affect later governance or staffing decisions.

 

Locomotive No. 1 from the Powerhouse Museum Collection, photographed by sv1ambo and hosted by Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic; cropped.

 
 

Who Is Running Powerhouse Through the Opening

The interim arrangement begins September 1. New South Wales Government Architect Abbie Galvin becomes interim chief executive, former Sydney Opera House chief executive Louise Herron becomes strategic adviser, and Borger and the Powerhouse trustees continue supporting the leadership team. ABC also identified New South Wales Treasury executive Cassandra Wilkinson as the museum’s acting chief operating officer, a post Havilah had confirmed in July.

The public announcement supplies titles but not a division of authority among Galvin, Herron, Wilkinson, Borger, and the trustees. It does not say who will approve procurement during the investigation, who will report to the department, or whether any additional controls have been imposed. Those are material governance gaps in the information released so far, not evidence that the responsibilities are absent internally.

The timing is less about finishing the main structure than operationalizing it. Infrastructure NSW records that Lendlease completed the building in April 2026; exhibition installation and the final public-domain work followed. The handover therefore places the interim team over a museum preparing objects, galleries, staff, visitor systems, and public programs rather than a conventional construction site.

 
 

Three Dates Define the Governance Question

Date	Verified record	What it establishes
March 6	Havilah’s budget testimony	She said Parramatta would open within its allocated budget.
August 24	Opening program and funding update	The project remained A$915 million; philanthropy reached A$80.28 million.
August 27	Leadership announcement	Havilah stood aside; an interim team starts September 1.

At a New South Wales Legislative Council budget-estimates hearing on March 6, Havilah was asked whether further cost overruns were expected. In the transcript, which is marked uncorrected, she said there had been no overruns on Powerhouse Parramatta or the Ultimo revitalization, that both were being delivered within their allocated budgets, and that Parramatta would open within its budget.

That testimony does not answer the present procurement allegations. A project can remain inside an overall budget while individual contracts or approval processes are questioned; conversely, a procurement inquiry does not by itself prove a budget overrun. The government has not publicly connected Havilah’s March statement to the matters now under investigation.

Infographic by Art in Context, based on Parliament of New South Wales, Infrastructure NSW, NSW Government.

 
 

The A$915 Million Figure Is Broader Than One Building

The common shorthand of an “A$915 million museum” obscures the government’s own project definition. Its August 23 program release says that total covers the building and delivery of Powerhouse Parramatta, a new collection-storage facility at Castle Hill, and the digitization and preservation of more than 371,000 collection objects. Treating the entire sum as the construction cost of the Parramatta building overstates what that single component represents.

The same release says the project’s philanthropic target was A$75 million and that A$80.28 million had been secured. That is A$5.28 million above target. The release does not explain whether the excess changes the public funding contribution, supports exhibitions or operations outside the capital budget, or is reserved for another purpose.

Those figures sharpen rather than settle the governance issue. The project’s total and fundraising position were publicly restated three days before Havilah stood aside, but neither disclosure reveals which procurement or governance decisions are under review.

 
 

The Museum Program Still Has to Open

Powerhouse Parramatta is an applied arts and sciences museum, and the immediate institutional stakes are visible in its opening program. Five exhibitions are meant to present more than 3,000 objects, including more than 1,600 from the Powerhouse Collection, alongside international loans and new commissions.

The lineup includes Es Devlin: The Turning, the British artist and designer’s first major Australian presentation; Overflow, a First Nations-led project about Water Country developed with seven Aboriginal organizations; and Task Eternal, bringing together Leonardo da Vinci drawings, a NASA Moon rock, an historic Qantas aircraft, and a new light work by James Turrell. The Dark is designed for children, while The Mall examines retail architecture, design, technology, and consumer culture.

This makes the leadership transition more than an opening-date problem. Object care, loan commitments, commissioned works, interpretation, access, and the visitor experience are the museum work that the interim structure must carry through November 7. The government says existing programs will not be affected, but it has not published a more detailed continuity plan.

 
 

What Is Established Before November 7

Havilah’s confirmed status is that she has stood aside pending investigations; no resignation, dismissal, or adverse finding has been announced. Galvin will become interim chief executive on September 1, supported by Herron as strategic adviser, while the trust and trustees remain in place.

The November 7 opening remains the government and trust’s stated date, and the base building was completed in April. The A$915 million figure covers a wider collection-infrastructure program than the Parramatta building alone, while the most recent government release puts secured philanthropy at A$80.28 million.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the earlier whistleblower complaint concerned procurement and recruitment, while the specific transactions and individuals implicated by the new allegations, the inquiry’s decision-maker and timetable, any temporary controls, Havilah’s eventual status, and the use of philanthropy above the A$75 million target remain undisclosed. Until formal findings are released, the museum faces a leadership and governance crisis as its opening approaches—not a proven case of misconduct.