Mathew Trinca is set to finish up as head of the National Museum of Australia

He may still be surfing the high of having secured ongoing federal funding for the National Museum of Australia, but there's an awful lot for a museum director to do.

And now he's calling time on the job that, for the past 10 years, has meant his time is not his own.

Dr Trinca won't be seeking reappointment at the end of his second five-year term in January, and will spend the rest of the year ensuring a smooth succession.

Like any director of an institution, his days belong to large, eclectic museum staff, the bureaucrats who oversee its funding, to the ministers in charge of arts and finance.

And, above all, to the steady stream of visitors coming through the museum's doors on any given day of the week.

"There's always more to do," he said.

"And it's now time for someone else to come and say, okay, with this funding news, what has been achieved in the last decade, where should we go? Where are we going now?

"It's time for me to look out and think of what else I might do as well in the years to come."

As he contemplated his imminent announcement to staff, there was, as usual, an awful lot going on, what with post-budget plans to develop new galleries and deal with the dire storage situation.

Not to mention the visitors drifting through the museum's current international blockbuster, a major show celebrating female expression throughout the world across the past 5000 years.

It, along with the many shows celebrating First Nations history, is the kind of show the museum has excelled at over the past few years, bringing a stream of visitors and plenty of discussion.

Dr Trinca said shows like this, and their ability to put the museum - and Canberra - on the map, would be one of his lasting achievements.

"I'm proud about getting this organisation further along. I think it has grown in visibility and stature and what is now regarded as being in national life," he said.

"Despite the hardship of having to negotiate an extremely tough funding environment, for a decade, we've done some incredible work."

His announcement comes after three tough years marked by fires, hail and the pandemic and, he said, the new funding felt like the lifting of a Damocles sword.

"We can actually think really productively about the future - it's fantastic for the staff who've stuck with me and done a fantastic job the whole way through," he said.

"It's a very demanding job, but don't get me wrong, it's a privilege. I never expected to have a job like this years ago, when I started studying history. To have been director of the National Museum has been an absolute honour, and it's a terrific job.

"I know that there'll be elements of it that I'll miss forever."

He said he was looking forward to some time to reflect on his next step.

"Yes, I'm a historian, and yes, I've been the director of a museum. But I actually see that as implicated in the breadth of our cultural life," he said.

"And I like to think that's one of the things I've done here, is take us into arts and arts expression and a series of collaborations with non-traditional museum partners. And I'm going to look at that stuff and see what I can do next in terms of working more broadly in the cultural sphere."