By James Tugwell

Copyright abc

Jimmy Barnes is among more than 40 music icons supporting an open letter to the embattled Australian National University (ANU) calling for the School of Music to be saved.

In July, the ANU announced proposed cuts to dismantle the 60-year-old institution, absorbing it into the School of Creative and Cultural Practice.

The proposed changes include axing one-on-one instrumental lessons.

They come as part of ANU’s major restructuring aiming to save $250 million.

‘Damage Australia’s cultural fabric’

Members of the newly formed School of Music Advocacy Roundtable, with the support of more than 40 industry professionals, penned an open letter to ANU chancellor Julie Bishop on September 17 calling for the decision to be reversed.

“The removal of one-on-one tuition and a shift away from professional standards will dismantle Canberra’s music pipeline, undermine national arts leadership, and damage Australia’s cultural fabric.

“The decision has serious social and economic implications.

“For students and early-career musicians, the loss of one-on-one training and clear pathways to professional work is devastating.”

Jimmy Barnes joins the chorus

Barnes supported the letter and said the School of Music was a pipeline for world-class musicians.

“I’ve seen how classical training and rock and roll can come together to create magic but that doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because we invest in serious music education,” he said.

“Music isn’t just entertainment, it’s an ecosystem. It supports jobs in venues big and small, it drives tourism, and it builds communities. The ANU’s plans to dismantle the School of Music put all of that at risk. They need to do better.”

Music grows the economy

Hoodoo Gurus frontman Dave Faulkner, who also supported the letter, said the proposed changes would stop the School of Music from doing what it was designed to do.

“It’s taking away its primary role of one-on-one training of classical and jazz musicians. It’s not meant just for listening and talking about music.”

Faulkner said the changes wouldn’t just impact musicians.

“Music is a very important thing for Australia as a country,” Faulkner said.

“People don’t notice that, but it’s happening around them all the time, and it’s creating all this engine of employment and jobs.”

According to The Bass Line, Music Australia’s analysis of the music industry, it generated more than $8 billion in 2023-2024.

Faulkner said the current proposed changes by the ANU were a one-size-fits-all solution that “makes no sense at all”.

“They really have got to find another solution because that solution isn’t a solution,” he said.

“I don’t know how they do it, but this isn’t the way.”

Cease work order over staff safety

It comes as a cease work order was issued by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) regarding health and safety concerns at the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, which the School of Music currently sits within.

NTEU ACT’s division secretary, Lachlan Clohesy, said the cease work order had been issued because it had been deemed there was an imminent threat to staff in the college.

“It’s extremely serious,” he said.

According to the cease work order posted around the university campus, the restructuring process, called Renew ANU, had caused “serious and ongoing harm” to staff, including “extreme mental health conditions” which could have “catastrophic consequences”.

Mr Clohesy said a report by an elected health and safety representative delivered to the ANU last Thursday had not been acted on.

“Since the report went in, things have got worse, not better,” he said.

The stop work order instructed workers to cease working on anything related to Renew ANU.

The ANU has been contacted for comment.