Powerhouse Parramatta CEO Lisa Havilah Ousted Weeks Before Museum Opening
The chief executive who spent seven years steering the Powerhouse Museum to a new home in Parramatta has been ousted, weeks before the building opens to the public.
ARTnews reported on 28 August 2026 that Lisa Havilah was removed amid active investigations. The ABC and The Australian had reported the previous day that she stepped aside pending New South Wales government investigations into governance and procurement practices at Powerhouse Parramatta — the museum's new A$915 million site in western Sydney, built to replace the institution's long-time home in inner-city Ultimo, which closed in February 2024 for a three-year refurbishment.
Havilah was appointed in November 2018, arriving from Carriageworks, a contemporary arts venue in Sydney. She was the Powerhouse's fourth leader in five-and-a-half years at the time of her appointment, according to the ABC. Her tenure encompassed the Parramatta relocation in its entirety, from planning through construction, which finished in May 2026.
The investigations now under way are not the first controversy to touch her leadership. In October 2025, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that a NSW inquiry had been launched into allegations of wrongdoing at the museum, noting that Havilah had defended a live tuna performance staged for staff and stakeholders as a "special gift." In April 2026, the same newspaper reported her defence of a decision to award a Parramatta commission to an international artist rather than a local one.
Just days before her departure, the picture had looked very different. On 18 August, the NSW government published the full exhibition program for the Parramatta opening — five shows including immersive experiences, confirmed for November 2026. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Havilah confirmed the museum would not have a standalone dedicated exhibit for western Sydney, the community in which it sits. The NSW government's own ministerial release quoted her describing the new building as "a museum built for the future."
Powerhouse Parramatta is the most expensive cultural infrastructure project in the state's history. Construction ended in May 2026, and the museum team had shifted to installing exhibitions. The institution's executive team includes Chief Operating Officer Mark Wilsdon and Director of Collection Alison Brennan, according to the Powerhouse website.
The question now is who oversees the final stretch. The museum has not yet publicly named an acting or replacement chief executive.
For a project this size and this long in the making, a leadership change this close to opening is unusual. The investigations will determine whether governance and procurement failures occurred; what is already certain is that the person who shaped the museum will not be the one to open its doors.
