Presented at the 2024 Fostering Creative Health Conference, Melbourne University by Dr Emma Heard and Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet. Explores community music as health promotion describing examples of community music practice from across Australia working across the five actions areas of health promotion: developing personal skills, building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, and orienting health services.

1. Dr Emma Heard and Professor Brydie-Leigh Bartleet
Community music as Health Promotion
Working across the five action areas for supporting health
and equity
Songs for Freedom concert in Barangaroo,
Eora Nation (Sydney) with Big hART, 2023

2. Acknowledgements
The Creative Change Project acknowledges the Yugarabul, Yuggera,
Jagera and Turrbal peoples of the land where we are based.
Research team
Brydie-Leigh Bartleet – ARC Future Fellow
Emma Heard – Research Fellow
Matt Hsu – Communications Officer
Pearly Black – PhD Candidate
Joel Spence – PhD Candidate
Flora Wong – PhD Candidate
Case study partners and communities
Big hART, Ieramugadu (Roebourne), Ngarluma Country
Play it Forward, Naarm (Melbourne) Wurundjeri Country
QMF, Cunnamulla, Kunja Country and Charleville, Bidjara Country
Micah Projects, Kurilpa (West
End), Yugarabul, Yuggera, Jagera and Turrbal Country
This project is funded by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship and is hosted by the Creative
Arts Research Institute and Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

4. Benefits of
Community Music
And the challenges of
integration with the social
sector
Jonathon Welch in rehearsal with Play It Forward

5. Developing
Personal
Skills
Strengthening
Community
Action
Creating
Supportive
Environments
Re-orienting
Health
Services
Building
Healthy
Public Policy
Health
Promotion

6. Personal skills development through community
music in outback Queensland
Confidence and
Employability
QMF Music Trails, Swing On In event, 2023

7. Responding to
Racism
Strengthening community action through choir in
the City of Wyndham
Members of the Peace Choir Project in Wyndham,
Naarm (Melbourne) 2023

8. Reorienting health services by embedding
participatory music to combat social
isolation and loneliness in Meanjin
Supporting health
and wellbeing
through connection
Art on electricity by @lisadotdesign in
West End (Kurilpa)
Hope Street Music Group, Kurilpa

9. Creating dialogue
about living well
together
Creating supportive environments by partnering
with community members and social sector
organisations to support critical dialogue about
how we can live together on this changing
planet in Warrane/Sydney
Dreambox Collective, Sydney/Warrane

10. Advocacy to raise
the age of criminal
responsibility
Driving policy change through
song-writing and story-telling
with Ieramugadu Roebourne
community
Performers at the Songs for Freedom concert in Naarm (Melbourne), 2023

11. Community music supporting social equity
Barleyshakes performing at QMF’s QLD Music Trails in Tambo, 2023

12. Get in touch
Prof. Brydie-Leigh Bartleet
ARC Future Fellow
Creative Change Project
Griffith University
b.bartleet@griffith.edu.au
Dr Emma Heard
Research Fellow
Creative Change Project
Griffith University
e.heard@griffith.edu.au
Website
creativechange.org.au
Socials
@creativechangelab