Some trials and tribulations of doctoral studies

The study analyses the nature of changes that have taken place in the artistic life of Australia and how well the Australia Council, as the Commonwealth Government's main agency charged with support and promotion of the arts, has responded to these over time. It also identifies what emphasis the Australia Council has given to both excellence/quality of achievement and equity of access and participation; and the music community's perceptions about how the Council has managed this dual policy. Perceptions were gathered first, by way of a national survey of individual musicians and music organizations and second, through follow up interviews.<br>Two central themes to emerge from the thesis are the need for improved communication to occur between the Performing Arts Board and the music community as a whole, and for the music community to work together as an integrated network to promote collective interests more successfully not only to governments, but also to potential private sources of support and to the public at large.<br><br>