Music Education: A (Re)Sounding Investment Report Released
Music Education: Right from the Start is proud to announce the release of Music Education: A (Re)Sounding Investment – a six-year update to the landmark 2020 report, Music Education: A Sound Investment.
The new report revisits the original research that helped spark and underpin Music Education: Right from the Start, tracing how the landscape of music education in Australia has evolved over the past six years.
Drawing on new research, sector consultation and national developments, Music Education: A (Re)Sounding Investment reflects on six years of progress through the work of the national initiative across policy, advocacy, collaboration and teacher workforce development, alongside the growing alignment and momentum across the sector, while also highlighting the challenges that continue to limit equitable access to music education across the country.
Importantly, the report reinforces the initiative’s enduring vision that every Australian primary school child has the right to a quality music education as part of their schooling, as is promised under the Australian Curriculum.
Music Education: A (Re)Sounding Investment was written by two of the original authors of the initiative’s foundational 2020 research, Music Education: A Sound Investment, Dr Anita Collins (left) and Dr Rachael Dwyer, pictured at Admiralty House on 11 May 2026.
Over the past six years, Music Education: Right from the Start, which is led by Alberts | The Tony Foundation but owned by many, has worked in collaboration with educators, researchers, policymakers, industry, philanthropists and the wider music education sector to strengthen understanding, alignment and advocacy around the role of quality music education within a well-rounded education that supports the development of the whole child. This work has included the development of the initiative’s definition of what constitutes a quality framework, An Understanding of Quality Music Education.
Despite growing momentum and stronger alignment across the sector, Music Education: A (Re)Sounding Investment highlights that many Australian primary school students still have little or no access to quality, sequential and ongoing music education as part of their schooling. While there are many examples of excellence across Australia, achieving consistent access for every child will require continued collective action to drive systemic change.
Reflecting this spirit of collaboration, the report was officially launched at a special event hosted on behalf of Music Education: Right from the Start by the initiative’s Patron, Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, at Admiralty House in Sydney, on the traditional lands of the Cammeraygal people, on 11 May.
We invite you to read the full report here and explore the progress, insights and opportunities shaping the future of music education in Australia.
