NiTRO + Creative Matters

Perspectives on creative arts in higher education

Melbourne launches new Conservatorium home with ACO partnership news

The long-awaited formal opening of Melbourne Conservatorium’s new home at The Ian Potter Southbank Centre on 1 June featured the announcement of a $1 million partnership with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

At the official launch of The Ian Potter Southbank Centre by Victorian Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley, Melbourne University VC Duncan Maskell announced that Melbourne would be the official University partner of the ACO for the next 5 years with an investment of $200,000 per annum.

Professor Maskell said: “The ACO partnership, made possible by the Sidney Myer University Trust, will provide our students at the Conservatorium with exceptional educational enrichment opportunities to engage and learn from the national orchestra’s musicians.”

The $109 million Ian Potter Southbank Centre was funded by the University of Melbourne, the Victorian Government, and generous philanthropic support, particularly from The Ian Potter Foundation, Martyn and Louise Myer and The Myer Foundation.

Other recent news

Other related news

A new National Cultural Policy

The DDCA together with DASSH (Council of Deans of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) made a submission to the National Cultural Policy review of Revive. Our submission recognised the important architecture of the existing 5 pillars that work to support First Nations First; A Place for Every Story; Centrality of the Artist; Strong Cultural Infrastructure; […]

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APPLY: 2026 DDCA AWARDS

The DDCA Awards are designed to acknowledge and celebrate outstanding contributions to creative arts, elevate and share best practice, and encourage and promote the next generation of creative arts leaders in research and education. The Awards promote diversity and recognise contributions and achievements by First Nations creatives, as well as early-, mid- and senior-career practitioners […]

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OUT NOW Evaluating creative practice research: A new framework

ABSTRACT It has been widely noted that creative practice research agitates in positive ways certain attitudes, understandings and/or practices towards ‘knowledge’ and ‘research’ within the university context. Not only this, or partly because of this, creative practice research complicates established scholarly protocols of assessment and evaluation. This has been a topic of concern and debate […]

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Arts education in Australia is at a critical turning point

Recent national media coverage has highlighted significant and ongoing declines in Arts education and training across schools and universities. Fewer students are able to access Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts, and this has serious consequences for young people, for education, and for Australia’s cultural future. The National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE) […]

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“Australia in danger of becoming an ‘artless country’”

Read The Guardian’s coverage on Sandra Gattenhof and John Nicholas Saunders’ research into The Polycrisis for Arts and Creative Education in Australia: Australia in danger of becoming an ‘artless country’ as enrolments in creative courses collapse, reported by Caitlin Cassidy . “Australia risks becoming an “artless country” if it does not address the long-term decline in enrolments in […]

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Announced: Discovery Projects 2026 round 1  

The ARC has announced recipients of Discovery Project grants for 2026 round 1. An impressive number of creative practice research projects have been funded that span across the disciplines and wide range of subject matter – below is just a snapshot. See the full list of funded projects here. Congratulations to all recipients. Uncreative Australia: […]

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