Higher Education Base Funding Review

Submission to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations

Virtually all of Australia’s public tertiary music institutions are in financial deficit. In Australia, the academic disciplines are assigned to one of eight ‘funding clusters’ depending upon the supposed cost of delivering their instruction programs. Music is assigned to Cluster 5, along with Allied Health, Clinical Psychology, Languages and the other arts. This does not take into account the costs incurred by music programs that are not borne by the other disciplines: providing individual lessons and a great deal of small group instruction, the presentation of a public performing program with associated facilities, production and administration costs, the instruction in and use of music technologies and so on.

The outcome is that the funds are not sufficient to support the programs that the institutions must present in order to have credibility. The submission gives a great deal of information in support of a move to a higher Funding Cluster and increased base funding sufficient to mount internationally credible programs.

Prepared by Dr Richard Letts AM, Executive Director, with Associate Professor Diana Blom, Head of Program (Music), School of Communication Arts, University of Western Sydney;  Associate Professor Carl Crossin OAM, Director, Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide; Professor Gary McPherson, Ormond Chair of Music and Director, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne; Professors Huib Schippers, Director, Queensland Conservatorium and Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre, Griffith University; and Professor Kim Walker, Dean and Principal, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.

Read the submission