Meet Fiona Higgins: Philanthropy expert, novelist, and newest member of our Advisory Group
Novelist and philanthropy expert, Fiona Higgins, is on a mission to write a new chapter in music education in Australia with her newest role on the Music Education: Right from the Start Advisory Group. Fiona brings two decades of experience in Australia’s philanthropy and not-for-profit sectors, as a founding director of Australian Philanthropic Services through to delivery roles in international development, rural and regional issues and youth mental health. Fiona’s prior career highlights include Executive Director of The Caledonia Foundation, Director of the Royal Agricultural Society Foundation (NSW) and Program Manager at Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation. Holding tertiary qualifications in humanities, linguistics, and social sciences, Fiona has published four novels and a memoir, including USA Today Bestseller ‘An Unusual Boy’. Her unique blend of creativity and social sector expertise is a welcome addition to our collective efforts to improve access to quality music learning for Australia’s future generations. Let’s get to know the newest member of our Advisory Group!
Q. Welcome, Fiona! What inspired you to join Music Education: Right from the Start’s Advisory Group?
A. It didn’t take much prompting! Imagine if all Australian parents received an email from their school principal reading: ‘Great news - we’ve identified a simple, cost-effective and easily executable strategy to dramatically improve your child’s cognitive function, core skills in numeracy and literacy, as well as build their self-esteem, self-image and self-confidence. Would you like us to implement this strategy for your child?’
The resounding collective response from parents would of course be: ‘YES!’
Now, that strategy does already exist. There’s a growing body of global evidence demonstrating the life-changing benefits to children of music education – but we need to make that strategy accessible for ALL Australian children, not just a fortunate few.
Q. How do you think your background in philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector will contribute to the goals of this initiative?
A. People sometimes describe philanthropy as ‘R&D for government’, a source of speculative social capital deployed to de-risk innovative methodologies that government can then deploy at scale.
Music Education: Right from the Start is very much that kind of initiative: a group of allies uniting around advocacy and action in support of a national music education strategy for ALL Australian children. I’m thrilled to be working alongside some exceptional Australian leaders in music and education towards that collective goal.
Fiona (far left) joins (top row, from left) Louise Barkl, Rachael Dwyer, Stephen O’Doherty, and Nicholas Pickard alongside (bottom row, from left) Alex Masso, Anne Frankenberg, and Jason Goopy.
Q. What’s been your own experience of music education – both for yourself and your children, and how has this informed your desire to see change in the current system?
A. I grew up in a family which couldn’t afford music education for the third child (me!) and having seen the benefits my siblings gained from it, I felt that loss keenly. When I had children myself, I wanted to ensure they had access to that opportunity if they wanted it. All three did, so now we have a French Hornist, a trumpet player and a drummer in the family! Seeing my children’s confidence improve as a function of music-making has galvanised me to join this effort to ensure universal access to music education for all.
Q. What do you see is the role of philanthropy in systems change? Can you share specific experiences or knowledge from your career?
A. Philanthropy can be a catalytic underwriter of social change by ‘backing the unbackable’ and prioritising unpalatable issues that government won’t or can’t address. Early philanthropic investment in innovation can generate evidence to demonstrate proof-of-concept and build confidence in implementation at scale. A great example of that is philanthropy’s role in supporting the earliest social impact bonds in Australia, enabling service providers to enter into outcome-based agreements with government and trial innovative solutions to challenging problems.
Q. As an author, how has your understanding of storytelling and creativity influenced your views on the importance of music education?
A. For me, creativity is a kind of covert ‘glue’ that binds humans together, despite our overt differences. Music, storytelling, art, dance – all creative forms affirm our common humanity. I’ve witnessed this in terms of audience responses to my works of fiction: readers from wildly different geographies and life contexts tend to respond similarly to universal themes of love, joy, suffering. I’m convinced that cultivating the creativity of rising generations – through music education and more – is an investment in humanity’s future.
Q. What are your hopes for the future of music education in Australia, particularly in primary schools?
A. My hope is that Australian government adopts a bipartisan national strategy that mandates the delivery of quality, sequential, ongoing music education for all primary school children. This would not only improve cognitive and wellbeing outcomes for young learners, it would be a hugely strategic investment in our nation’s creative future.
