NSW begins work on its first Music Education Plan
Last Wednesday marked an important step forward for primary music education in New South Wales, with leaders representing students, principals, teachers, parents, and industry convening in Sydney at the invitation of the NSW Department of Education to help shape the state’s first 10-year Music Education Plan.
Our Senior Advisor, Dr Anita Collins, and Strategy Lead, Judith Bowtell, joined many of our close partners and collaborators in a room brimming with energy, expertise, and shared purpose. The 27 participants were invited to review and provide feedback on the Plan’s initial steps, while gaining insight into the Department’s vision and ambition for delivering high-quality, sequential, and ongoing music education to every NSW primary school student.
Participants of the 19 November roundtable included members from Music Education: Right from the Start’s expert working groups and project team (from left): Alex Masso (Australian Music Association), Cassandra Lake (Musica Viva Australia), Bernie Heard (Music in Me), our senior advisor Dr Anita Collins, Alice Gerlach (The Song Room), and our project lead Judith Bowtell.
The proposed Plan represents a significant step forward for equity and access across the state, and responds directly to a key recommendation from last year’s Joint Select Committee Inquiry into Arts and Music Education and Training in NSW. That Inquiry found that quality, sequential, and ongoing music learning is essential for all students – a finding that closely aligns with the vision of this initiative.
Ahead of the Roundtable, Music Education: Right from the Start submitted recommended actions across six key focus areas to Secretary to the NSW Department of Education, Murat Dizdar, to inform the development of the Plan, including:
1. Quality, Sequential and Ongoing Music Education:
-Adopt an explicit standard as to what constitutes a quality, sequential and ongoing music education.
2. Guaranteed Music Education Every Week of the School Year:
-Integrate music education across the school year, so that music education is sequential and ongoing, as set out in the quality music education standard.
3. Confident and Capable Teaching Workforce:
-Implement a coherent and coordinated professional learning program, based on current knowledge and ability, to strengthen all generalist primary teachers' confidence and capability in music education.
4. Principals and School Leadership for Music Education:
-Department of Education affirm the value of music education as a strategic priority for school planning.
5. Implementation and Reporting:
-Establish a 3–5-year implementation plan with clear targets and timelines.
6. Funding and Resourcing:
-Develop a request for additional funding for implementation of stage 1 of the NSW Music Education Plan, for consideration in the next NSW budget.
The recommendations were developed in consultation with our expert working group members; informed by our research (including the ACER Primary Teachers' Survey NSW), and tested again before sending to the DoE. We also mapped these recommendations against the NSW Public Education Plan (launched October 2023), and the recommendations of the 2024 Joint Select Committee Inquiry into Arts and Music Education and Training in NSW.
A key finding from the 2024 Joint Select Committee Inquiry on Arts and Music Education and Training in NSW.
At the roundtable, the Department’s commitment to strengthening music education was clear, with Secretary Dizdar and Deputy Secretary Teaching, Learning and Student Wellbeing, Martin Graham, affirming that music holds a rightful place in the curriculum on its own merits – alongside the many proven benefits it brings to students, teachers, and school communities.
We are grateful to the NSW Department of Education for their commitment to every child’s right to music education, and for facilitating a thoughtful, open and collaborative process.
Days like this remind us that collaboration is key to driving systemic change, and that it takes many hands and perspectives to make meaningful progress. We look forward to seeing this vision take shape.
