Australian Music Therapy Association

31/12/2025

🎉 Happy new year from all of us at the Australian Music Therapy Association!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2026, starting with a terrific opportunity for health professionals who work alongside music therapists in NICU settings or who are interested in integrating a NICU music therapy program on their unit. Watch this space!

And it's a Census year. That means. for the first time on Census night, our members will have the opportunity to write 'Music Therapist' as their occupation and be counted as a unique occupation: 'Music therapist: 261933'. Thanks, Australian Bureau of Statistics!

With music therapy a part of important government programs being rolled out in aged care, schools, primary health networks, creative therapies programs and more, AMTA will remain focused on our mission to advance equitable consumer access to music therapy across the lifespan.

Here’s to a year of harmony, growth and making a difference together.

#2026

📷 A person blowing a red toy trumpet

29/12/2025

AMTA's leadership team would like to send a heartfelt thanks for your support for music therapy, particularly this year.

For, although the Australian Music Therapy Association had a lot to celebrate in our 50th anniversary, we also had a lot to advocate for. After the independent review of NDIS funded music and art supports by Dr Stephen Duckett AM, music therapy retained its place in the NDIS as a therapeutic support. However, a price cut for 19.5% seriously risks consumer access to music therapy.

Over the next few weeks, the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee (EAC) will review music therapy (and other supports, too). It’s a public consultation - which means you can have a say! - and they want to hear from NDIS participants. They’ve even provided Easy Read materials to help.

The EAC will make recommendations to government on the safety, suitability and value for money of supports for NDIS funding, drawing on the best available evidence.

If it’s appropriate for you, do send your thoughts on how music therapy has helped you or someone you care for. The consultation closes on 20 January 2026.
https://consultations.health.gov.au/evidence-advisory-committee-eac/december-2025/

Again, thank you for helping the association show how music therapy changes lives.


📷 Seniors in a music therapy session sit together.

28/12/2025

We said at the start of 2025 that the music therapy community in Australia has a lot to celebrate this year - and celebrate we did!

Our 50th anniversary year was a whirlwind. We shared meaningful moments in music therapy on our digital memory wall, hosted a public celebration at the beautiful Ian Potter Southbank Centre in Melbourne featuring an incredible performance by the Royal Melbourne Hospital Scrub Choir, launched a beautiful e-book - and much more.

And we could not have done it without the committed volunteers who made up the 50th Anniversary Working Group. AMTA says thank you to all of you, particularly its Chair, Natalie Jack RMT. You all made the anniversary a year-long event to remember while also looking to our vision of wider, more equitable access to safe and effective music therapy services provided by registered music therapists.

Thanks to Carlin McLellan RMT, Dr Cindy Lai RMT, Stefanie Zappino RMT, Dewi Pearce RMT, Katja Enoka RMT, Teresa Lau RMT and Lulu Xiaoyan RMT.


📷 AMTA's 50th anniversary cupcakes

22/12/2025

After another big year promoting and advocating for the music therapy profession, working to increase consumer access to music therapy services and supporting registered music therapists, it's time for AMTA's staff and volunteers to take a break.

Our office will close on Tuesday 23 December 2025 and re-open on Monday 12 January 2026. If you have an urgent enquiry, please email ceo@austmta.org.au

The AMTA Board and staff wish you a very happy holiday and a restful break.

21/12/2025

AMTA's latest newsletter is out now.

Music Therapy Matters is for anyone interested in music therapy - whether you're a participant, a multidisciplinary colleague, potential career changer or all-round music therapy champion.

Edition 3 is packed with good news and a wrap-up of our 50th anniversary. Read it now at the link below or subscribe from our website.

🔗 https://www.austmta.org.au/news-item/21800/music-therapy-matters-edition-3


📷

21/12/2025

The latest edition of the Australian Journal of Music Therapy expands horizons amid systemic challenges, reflecting a profession responding creatively and thoughtfully to contemporary challenges, including shifting service environments, evolving delivery models and increasing demands for evidence-informed practice.

AJMT Editor A/Prof. Jinah Kim RMT notes that music therapy has continued to expand its scope in 20025, while also navigating system pressures in the health and disability contexts. “The contributions demonstrate the profession’s capacity to adapt with integrity, grounding innovation in relational ethics, scholarship and reflective practice,” she said.

🔗 Explore AJMT Vol. 36:1, Music therapy in 2025: expanding horizons amid systemic challenges
https://www.austmta.org.au/australian-journal-of-music-therapy/read/


📷 Australian Journal of Music Therapy logo, with volume and title information

20/12/2025

A special edition of the Australian Journal of Music Therapy marks the 50th anniversary of the Australian Music Therapy Association and the outstanding success of its 50th national conference, themed 'Orchestrating impact and innovation'.

This commemorative issue brings together all accepted conference abstracts, creating a permanent scholarly record of the breadth and depth of contemporary music therapy practice and research in Australia and the region.

"This special edition of AJMT is a meaningful bridge between conference engagement and scholarly dissemination, honouring the profession’s history while supporting future dialogue and development,” AJMT Editor A/Prof. Jinah Kim RMT said.

🔗 Explore AJMT Vol. 36(2), Celebrating 50 years of the Australian Music Therapy Association: special issue
https://www.austmta.org.au/australian-journal-of-music-therapy/read/


📷 Australian Journal of Music Therapy logo. Volume info and title.

18/12/2025

The Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) is seeking an Advocacy Officer to help our team ensure music therapy is increasingly recognised and included in funded health, education and wellbeing programs.

It's a flexible, part-time role (15 hours per week) working remotely with a small team.

If you have senior-level experience in policy, advocacy or stakeholder engagement within the health or allied health sector, we'd love to hear from you.

🔗 https://www.ethicaljobs.com.au/members/amta2020/advocacy-officer-remote-work-from-home-1?keywords=advocacy%20officer

Drive national advocacy for music therapy, working remotely with a supportive team - shape policy, influence health reform, and expand access to life-changing services across Australia.

16/12/2025

The Australian Music Therapy Association is proud to launch a new look for the Australian Journal of Music Therapy. Designed by long-term partners Blend Creative, the new logo symbolises the relationship and connection between therapist and client and fits neatly into AMTA's brand family.

The new look comes ahead of 2 new editions of AJMT published this week, representing further expansions in scholarly research in the field of music therapy.

“With its new branding and experienced team, the 2025 editions represent a clear step forward in building AJMT as a high-profile journal,” AMTA's CEO Amanda Quealy. “AMTA is proud to promote Australian music therapy research and to support authors to share their work with confidence and impact.”



📷 The new logo for the Australian Journal of Music Therapy. It is 2 interlocking curved shapes, that look like guitar plectrums. The colours are white on a blue background, the same colour as the blue in the AMTA logo.

12/12/2025

When Vince Higgins began music therapy as part of his rehabilitation at Townsville Hospital, it marked a turning point in his recovery. Working with music therapy student Katy Prideaux Frewen-Lord after having multiple strokes, Vince and his family discovered the value of music therapy in stroke rehabilitation, especially for communication, memory support and emotional wellbeing.

Katy's clinical placement at the rehabilitation unit at Townsville Hospital marked the first music therapy student placement of its kind in regional north Queensland. She is studying a Master of Creative Music Therapy at Western Sydney University. “We’ve seen striking breakthroughs, like non-verbal patients singing lyrics during social sing-along sessions," Katy said.

Thanks to Townsville Hospital and Health Service for sharing this story. 💙🎵

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1MYm3CwgBF/?mibextid=RUbZ1f

Support for patients at the Townsville University Hospital (TUH) rehabilitation unit has struck a new chord, bringing evidence-based healing through song, rhythm, and connection. 🎸🎶💙

Western Sydney University Master of Music Therapy student Katy Prideaux Frewen-Lord returned to her hometown of Townsville for a clinical placement at the rehabilitation unit, marking the first music therapy student placement of its kind in regional north Queensland.

Music therapy is a research-based clinical practice where trained professionals use music to support therapeutic goals such as improving communication, emotional expression, cognitive function, and physical coordination.

“We’ve seen striking breakthroughs, like non-verbal patients singing lyrics during social sing along sessions," Katy said.

One patient who experienced the benefits first-hand was Vince Higgins, who joined Katy’s sessions after suffering multiple strokes.

As part of his therapy, Katy and Vince co-wrote a song titled ‘A hurdle in life, a determination to go on,’ drawing on Vince’s own words and experiences.📝

Katy said Vince’s engagement with music therapy marked a turning point in his recovery.

“Vince’s mood, engagement, ability to express emotions, and overall wellbeing have increased significantly,” she said.

“He’s told me on many occasions that writing and singing his song has given him a sense of purpose and pride during his time in the unit."

Vince said the experience helped him reconnect with memories affected by his strokes. 💭💙

“Music brings back memory, it’s like a broken brain lighting up again,” he said.

“I plan to share the song we wrote with my children as a keepsake.

“I’m proud of what we’ve created, and hopeful Katy can come back to help other patients like me.”

10/12/2025

Music therapy remains on the NDIS as a therapeutic support. However, changes to the way music therapy is treated under the NDIS will impact not only registered music therapists but also their participants and the allied health and disability teams they work with. As the community grapples with the impacts, registered music therapists and AMTA members continue to advocate to protect consumer access to music therapy.

Registered music therapist Grace Thompson RMT has worked with AMTA's advocacy team since the changes were announced 12 months ago. Speaking recently with The Wire, Grace was able to explain some of the impacts of a year's worth of uncertainty.

Listen here: https://www.thewire.org.au/story/ndis-price-cap-for-music-and-art-therapists

From November, music and art therapists will be able to bill the National Disability Insurance Scheme at the same rate...

08/12/2025

Congratulations to Bridgit Hogan RMT, who was recently made an honorary life member of the Australian Music Therapy Association.

Bridgit was AMTA's first CEO, serving in the role for 11 years as a key advocate for music therapy across health, disability, aged care and education, ensuring the profession is represented in national policy and funding conversations.

AMTA President Monica Zidar RMT said Bridgit’s professionalism, compassion and courage have strengthened the association and the entire profession.

“Her advocacy has expanded recognition of music therapy across the health and human services sectors. Her contributions have immeasurably shaped AMTA and strengthened the music therapy profession. Under Bridgit's leadership, AMTA has modernised its governance, strengthened professional standards and aligned the profession more closely with national health-sector regulation."

📷 Bridgit Hogan