Every child, in every Victorian primary school deserves Music Education.  Yet, many in public schools do not get any Music education at all.  Legislation has not made Music Education compulsory, so many principals chose not to deliver any Music Education at all.

You can help change that - sign the petition and share - let your local election candidate know that you want every child in every public school to access:

1. A continuous, sequential and developmental Music Education

2. Delivered by an expertly Music trained specialist teacher (not just a few songs from the classroom teacher).

3. In a compulsory and protected one hour weekly session. 

Every Victorian child in Secondary schools deserve opportunities to continue their training, with dedicated specialist music classes, opportunities to study an instrument and participate in vocal groups, bands and ensembles.

Public schools thrive where there is a dedicated Music program, with expert music teachers delivering the program in protected and compulsory time.

The Victorian people highly value Music Education, and we the undersigned believe that every child, in every school deserves a rich Music Education. 

The research demonstrates that those who study within an engaging music program benefit from higher outcomes in numeracy and literacy, emotional health and engagement to school. 

The National Library of Medicine: The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10765015/

THE CALL

As we now move towards the Victorian Election, we call upon any newly elected government to:

•  Make Music a compulsory subject for all Primary school students in Australia
•  Provide Primary schools with a minimum protected time allocation per week to deliver specialist Music classes.
•  Review the policy for providing preservice training in specialisms for Primary Teachers.
• Instruct AITSL to deliver benchmarks for quality music education teacher service for ITE providers
•  Develop ITE provider guidelines for excellence in Music education pre service training.

Improve Music Education delivery including a) maintaining salaried instrumental music teachers, b) improvement through a Quality Music Education Framework and promotion of the VCAA Music Education Guide: https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/curriculum/foundation-10/music-education-guide/music-education-guide-30 

We saw in the ABC Documentary #DontStopTheMusicAU that people all over Australia want their children to receive a comprehensive Music Education and This has not stopped -: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/dont-stop-the-music

 No not just for some - but for everyone!

MUSIC INDUSTRY

Skills delivery to young people wishing to enter an Australian $ 10.76  billion Music Industry needs a continuous, sequential and developmental approach for graduates to succeed on the global stage: More Than Notes On A Page https://asme.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/MusicAustralia_More-Than-Notes-on-a-Page.pdf   

Driving the Broader Music Industry Value Chain: Music education is a foundational pillar of Australia's $10.76 billion music industry. According to industry reports like More Than Notes on a Page, music education directly generates economic activity through:

Instruction and delivery (the dominant subsector driving local educator employment)
Youth pathways and showcases, which generate millions in revenue and Gross Value Added (GVA)
Music examinations and credentials, which pull in substantial annual revenue and structure tertiary entry and career progression
Music retail and instrument sales, supporting local business ecosystems
 

Every child, in every school deserves a quality music education delivered by an expertly trained music teacher in protected time.