NSW Government Responds to Arts and Music Education Inquiry Recommendations
The NSW Government has now responded to the report recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Arts and Music Education and Training in NSW, following last year's Parliamentary Inquiry.
We’re currently reading through their response and considering what it means for the future of music education in NSW.
You can find their response on the Joint Select Committee’s website.
Alberts I The Tony Foundation’s Music Education: Right from the Start initiative welcomed the official report by the Joint Select Committee on Arts and Music Education and Training in NSW in December 2024.
One of the Committee’s key findings is that quality, sequential, and ongoing music learning is essential for all students in NSW primary schools. The Committee's recommendations to deliver on this finding strongly align with those put forward by our initiative and others across the music and education sectors.
This is most apparent in Recommendation 12 (pages 63-64), to develop a Music Education Plan to support the delivery of quality, sequential and ongoing music education in New South Wales primary schools, which includes:
· Setting an explicit standard as to what constitutes quality, sequential and ongoing music education
· Mandating a minimum amount of music education per week up to Stage 4 with a teacher (generalist or specialist) confident and capable of delivering quality music learning
· Setting ambitious targets for statewide access to primary music education
· Mandatory reporting and data collection of the delivery of music education
· Mandatory biennial reporting on progress in implementing the quality music education plan.
We will now be working with our partners to examine the NSW Government’s response to the Committee’s report in greater detail.
We are committed to working with the NSW Government to ensure the Committee’s recommendations move from planning into action, with the concept of quality, sequential and ongoing music learning moving beyond paper and into the classroom.
