Article | Intelligent Investment
Business Insights | How do you value something you’re meant to protect, not sell?
Valuing government collections requires more than a final number. It calls for a clear methodology that respects each collection’s significance while supporting accountable decisions.
October 13, 2026
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In government, not everything we value is meant to be traded.
Some assets exist to be preserved, interpreted and shared across generations. Collections sit at the heart of this responsibility. They tell our stories, hold cultural, historical, scientific and community significance, and are managed on behalf of the public rather than for commercial return.
Yet governments and institutions must still place values on these assets. Collections need to be recognised in financial statements, insured appropriately and supported by consistent, defensible records. Valuations may also inform funding, governance and long-term planning. This creates a tension that is often misunderstood: How do you assign a financial value to something whose purpose is stewardship, not sale?
Part of the challenge lies in defining what constitutes a collection. The term may bring to mind artworks in galleries, objects in museums or records held in archives. In reality, collections can also encompass rare books, scientific and research materials, historical manuscripts, natural specimens, heritage objects and culturally significant materials. Increasingly, they include digital records and born-digital collections that can expand public access well beyond an institution’s physical walls.
The assets within a collection may also vary considerably in age, significance, condition and the availability of market evidence. Large collections can contain thousands of individual items across multiple categories, making an item-by-item assessment impractical. A sound valuation may therefore require clearly defined asset groupings, specialist input and carefully designed census or sampling methodologies. The approach needs to reflect the collection itself, rather than forcing every asset into a standard model. This is particularly important where cultural sensitivity, custodianship or community expectations influence how materials should be assessed and handled.
Unlike many commercial assets, collections rarely have straightforward market comparables. Some items are unique, restricted from sale or inseparable from their institutional context. Others may have a market, but their significance to the community or institution extends beyond the price that market would assign.
Some assets exist to be preserved, interpreted and shared across generations. Collections sit at the heart of this responsibility. They tell our stories, hold cultural, historical, scientific and community significance, and are managed on behalf of the public rather than for commercial return.
Yet governments and institutions must still place values on these assets. Collections need to be recognised in financial statements, insured appropriately and supported by consistent, defensible records. Valuations may also inform funding, governance and long-term planning. This creates a tension that is often misunderstood: How do you assign a financial value to something whose purpose is stewardship, not sale?
Part of the challenge lies in defining what constitutes a collection. The term may bring to mind artworks in galleries, objects in museums or records held in archives. In reality, collections can also encompass rare books, scientific and research materials, historical manuscripts, natural specimens, heritage objects and culturally significant materials. Increasingly, they include digital records and born-digital collections that can expand public access well beyond an institution’s physical walls.
The assets within a collection may also vary considerably in age, significance, condition and the availability of market evidence. Large collections can contain thousands of individual items across multiple categories, making an item-by-item assessment impractical. A sound valuation may therefore require clearly defined asset groupings, specialist input and carefully designed census or sampling methodologies. The approach needs to reflect the collection itself, rather than forcing every asset into a standard model. This is particularly important where cultural sensitivity, custodianship or community expectations influence how materials should be assessed and handled.
Unlike many commercial assets, collections rarely have straightforward market comparables. Some items are unique, restricted from sale or inseparable from their institutional context. Others may have a market, but their significance to the community or institution extends beyond the price that market would assign.
Valuing a collection isn’t about trying to put a price on its cultural or historical significance. It’s about applying a clear and defensible methodology that respects what makes the collection unique, while giving institutions confidence in the values they report and the decisions they make.
This means the assumptions behind a valuation matter as much as the final number. Institutions must be able to understand how items were categorised, what evidence was considered, where specialist expertise was used and how conclusions were reached. In high-scrutiny environments, opaque or “black box” valuations can create uncertainty, slow financial reporting and make it harder to respond confidently to auditors and other stakeholders.
Good valuation practice replaces this uncertainty with transparency. It establishes a clear scope, applies consistent methodologies and maintains traceability between collection data, valuation inputs and reported outcomes. Independent technical review and documented quality controls are also important where valuations must support financial statement sign-off and withstand audit scrutiny.
Digital transformation adds another dimension. Wider digital access can support education, research, inclusion and cultural participation. While financial valuation cannot capture every aspect of that public benefit, it should not ignore how changing forms of access, use and custodianship affect the way collections are understood and managed.
When this is done well, valuation becomes an enabler rather than a barrier. It strengthens governance, supports insurance and funding decisions, and gives institutions a more reliable foundation for future planning.
Ultimately, valuing collections is not about reducing culture, history or knowledge to a price. It is about making the basis of value visible, supporting accountable decisions today and sustaining public trust in how significant assets are cared for over time.
Good valuation practice replaces this uncertainty with transparency. It establishes a clear scope, applies consistent methodologies and maintains traceability between collection data, valuation inputs and reported outcomes. Independent technical review and documented quality controls are also important where valuations must support financial statement sign-off and withstand audit scrutiny.
Digital transformation adds another dimension. Wider digital access can support education, research, inclusion and cultural participation. While financial valuation cannot capture every aspect of that public benefit, it should not ignore how changing forms of access, use and custodianship affect the way collections are understood and managed.
When this is done well, valuation becomes an enabler rather than a barrier. It strengthens governance, supports insurance and funding decisions, and gives institutions a more reliable foundation for future planning.
Ultimately, valuing collections is not about reducing culture, history or knowledge to a price. It is about making the basis of value visible, supporting accountable decisions today and sustaining public trust in how significant assets are cared for over time.
Contacts
Todd Svanberg
Senior Director, Public Sector, Valuation & Advisory Services, Canberra
Ash Nicholson
Director, Government & Industry, New South Wales
