Australia’s creative and cultural future is at risk unless urgent action is taken to address the erosion of arts education in schools and universities, a coalition of leading arts educators has warned.

The National Advocates for Arts Education (NAAE), which represents around 10,000 educators across disciplines including music, dance, drama, media and visual arts, has called for a bipartisan national inquiry into arts education and training ahead of the 2025 federal election.

NAAE Chair Dr John Nicholas Saunders said the sector was in crisis after years of cuts to arts education pathways and growing barriers to access. “Between 2018 and 2025 alone, 40 creative arts courses have been discontinued by Australian universities, with many more suffering major cuts,” Saunders said. “The pipeline for future artists, arts workers, and arts teachers is being cut off at its source.”

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Among the courses to have been discontinued since 2018 include Charles Stuart University’s Bachelor of Theatre Media; Griffith University’s Bachelor of Popular Music and Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary and Applied Theatre; Monash University’s Bachelor majors in theatre and performance, Bachelor Music’s stream of ethnomusicology and musicology and Centre for...