‘Abandoned, misled’: ANU music students threaten legal action in explosive letter
A group of Australian National University students has threatened to take legal action unless the university pauses the ‘disestablishment’ of the 60-year-old School of Music.
A group of Australian National University students has threatened to take legal action unless the university pauses the “disestablishment” of the 60-year-old School of Music.
ANU announced in July its music school would become a “programme” and absorbed into a new School of Creative and Cultural Practice as part of a broader restructure to cut $250 million in costs by the beginning of 2026.
In a six-page legal letter sent to chancellor Julie Bishop, vice chancellor Genevieve Bell and other members of the executive on Thursday, the eight music students claimed ANU was in breach of the commonwealth legislation under which the university operates, and “misleading and deceptive” conduct under consumer law.
Students said the “structural dismantling” of the school has “robbed us of the education we were promised and paid for including a one-on-one Conservatorium teaching model, which would be replaced under the restructure, the gutting of performance and composition majors, and the casualisation of elite staff, which left them feeling “abandoned and misled”.
“We have each experienced the loss of courses, ensembles, competitions and teachers that were central to our development as musicians,” they wrote.
“We are anxious about our futures, uncertain whether our degrees will retain their value, and heartbroken to see the School of Music stripped of its history and identity as an institution of national repute and local pride. We were not consulted – we were notified.”
The students have asked that the restructure, known as ANU Renew, be paused until consultation with students can occur.
The students argued the changes were in breach of the federal legislation that authorises the university – the ANU Act – and which states the university “provide facilities and courses at higher education level and other levels in the visual and performing arts, and, in so doing, promote the highest standards of practice in those fields”.
“This provision is not aspirational or discretionary – it is a statutory obligation.”
The students have also argued that ANU made “misleading or deceptive representations” under consumer law in its promotional materials, which students “relied on … to our detriment”.
It included that students could specialise in one of five majors, including performance and composition.
If ANU does not “take immediate and concrete steps to pause all ANU Renew initiatives that affect the school” and provide written undertakings, “we may take such further legal action and/or regulatory referrals as may be advised to protect our legal interests as students,” they said.
Artistic director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra Richard Tognetti recently told a packed house at ANU’s Llewellyn Hall that: “The School of Music is not just a category institution or an ANU department. It is a national, indeed international, asset. It is the training ground that gives life to our cultural identity. Once lost, it will not be rebuilt.”
He also wrote to ANU leadership saying the “changes represent not just a deep disappointment but a betrayal of the school’s founding vision”.
One of the signatories, cellist James Monro, who recently finished his ANU performance courses, said he believed the changes would be “very damaging”.
“We will start to see flow-on effects of not having a Conservatorium effectively, which affects the professional music scene, which is responsible for high school music training. If the School of Music disappears then the Canberra Symphony will suffer and music education at all levels will suffer. I think this is a big problem. And I don’t think ANU can actually do this, so those things combined is why I was part of writing this letter,” Mr Monro said.
An ANU spokesperson said the university had received the correspondence and is currently considering it.
On Wednesday, ANU announced that “all future changes under Renew ANU will be achieved without involuntary redundancies”. The forced redundancies will still occur in the College of Arts and Social Sciences and the School of Music.
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