
Why Music Education?
Quality, sequential, and ongoing music education delivers wide-reaching benefits for students.
It supports cognitive development and strengthens academic achievement – particularly in literacy and numeracy. It also improves school engagement, retention, and participation, and enhances well-being, inclusion, and both personal and social growth.

Context
Despite broad recognition of music education’s value, its delivery across Australia remains inconsistent and inequitable. Each state and territory interprets and applies the national curriculum differently. Many schools face significant barriers, including limited access to specialist teachers and ongoing budget and resource constraints.
These issues exist within a broader context: Australian schooling continues to grapple with inequitable access to learning and uneven outcomes, with recent NAPLAN data showing many students falling below national literacy and numeracy standards. Schools are managing the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on student health and well-being, alongside mounting pressures on the teaching workforce – compounded by a cutback in music education training within Initial Teacher Education degrees, now averaging just 8 hours nationally.
There’s no silver bullet, but the evidence is clear: music education plays a pivotal role in addressing many of the challenges facing Australian public primary schools.
The Benefits
While the social sciences have long shown the personal, emotional and social benefits of music, there is also extensive research on music learning in the fields of neuroscience and psychology. The research provides substantial evidence for the benefits including that a quality music education:
Increases attention stamina and focus
Improves social skills and personal wellbeing
Heightens empathy and valuing of diversity
Reduces stress and anxiety
Improves learning capacity
Supports reading and numeracy skills
Improves self-regulation
Improves cognitive connectivity and efficiency
Hones neural synchronisation to enhance learning
Supports immune health
Boosts academic performance in English, Maths and Science
A summary of the core research findings regarding music education can be found in our report Music Education: A Sound Investment.
Exploring the benefits of music learning with Dr Anita Collins
Dr Anita Collins dives into the substantial evidence of the benefits of music learning to kids’ development

Our Priorities
Back primary school teachers through access to high standards of professional learning and initial teacher education which provide the confidence and skills to deliver music learning
Support primary school leaders with the knowledge, tools and opportunities to implement quality music education in their schools;
Building a knowledge base on music education in our primary schools: the number of students accessing music education; who is delivering it; and what is being taught.