ALA webinar: Adult Education and Creative Pedagogies

Creative Education at a Crossroads

Australia's higher education landscape has undergone significant upheaval since the Job-ready Graduates (JRG) package took effect in 2021. Designed to steer students toward fields deemed job-ready, it dramatically raised student contributions for creative arts, humanities, and society-related degrees. By 2026, performing and visual arts students face annual fees of $9,537, compared to $4,738 for mathematics, while broader humanities and media courses reach $17,399—nearly four times the STEM benchmark.

The consequences are stark: enrolments in creative subjects have plummeted at both secondary and tertiary levels, with research documenting more than 40 creative degrees and courses eliminated in under a decade. High school Year 12 arts participation has fallen, and universities have slashed offerings, prompting warnings that Australia could become an 'artless country' unable to sustain its cultural industries.

This decline stands in sharp contrast to policy ambitions elsewhere. The 2023 National Cultural Policy Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place aims to bolster the creative economy, while Victoria's Creative State 2028 strategy underscores the sector's economic value. Yet funding and incentive structures prioritise STEM and vocational pathways under reforms like the National Skills Agreement (effective 2024) and ongoing Universities Accord implementation, including the proposed Australian Tertiary Education Commission.

Adult education occupies a distinctive position in this landscape. Operating outside traditional university constraints through community programs and non-formal learning, it increasingly incorporates creative pedagogies—drawing on arts processes for transformative learning in areas like social change, health, and community development. The recent special issue of the Australian Journal of Adult Learning on this topic reflects growing interest in these approaches as alternatives or complements to formal systems.

Tensions abound: creative fields suffer from perceptions as less 'practical' in a skills-shortage economy, yet evidence shows they foster innovation, adaptability, and equity—particularly for marginalised learners. Inaction risks not just cultural erosion but diminished workforce creativity at a time when adaptability is prized. The stakes include potential long-term economic costs from an underdeveloped creative sector, estimated to contribute billions annually, alongside social consequences from reduced access to expressive and critical learning pathways.