NiTRO + Creative Matters

Perspectives on creative arts in higher education

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) is calling on the Australian Government, through Minister Jason Clare (Education) and Minister Tony Burke (Arts), to initiate a national parliamentary inquiry into Arts education and training in Australia.

Together, we can ensure every young Australian has access to a rich, creative and
meaningful education.

Take action here: https://naae.org.au/news/call-to-action

Other recent news

Other related news

Exploring the Arts for Social, Cultural and Educational Value from Cradle to Grave

DDCA Webinar, 1-2pm AEST, Friday 9th October 2026 This webinar addresses this rich and important value of arts across the lifespan through the research of four leading researcher-practitioners. Emily Gann, whose Arts SA Ruby Award-winning Lullaby Project Australia has formed partnerships with organisations including Carnegie Hall, New York. Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Yagera/Butchulla), a theatre maker and arts specialist across professional, […]

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Contribute to Creative Matters ed 12: REGENERATE – guest edited by AFTRS

The Australian Film, Television and Radio School’s (AFTRS) Digital Futures Summit 2026 – Regenerate – was an invitation to reimagine the screen and audio industries as living ecosystems. In this framing, regeneration is not merely about sustainability or resilience; it is about active restoration, ecological enhancement and systemic transformation. With this upcoming edition of Creative Matters, the AFTRS guest editorial team […]

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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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“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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