By Phoebe Stretton-Smith RMT, AMTA Events ChairWelcome to a glimpse behind the scenes of AMTA2025: 50th National Conference & PDS, to be held 17-19 October 2025 at Rydges Melbourne.
This year’s committee is an extraordinary group of creative and committed registered music therapists who have been hard at work with our professional conference organisers to plan this momentous event. This year, we are also working closely with the AMTA Board, CEO, 50th Anniversary Working Group, and our strategic partners engaged for the public awareness campaign to ensure this conference has a big impact!
We are excited to announce that, for the first time, we will hold a ‘Welcome event’ the night before conference, on Thursday 16 October. Open to members and a broader audience, the welcome event will be ticketed separately, so please keep an eye out for further details. Key dates and information will be shared with members via the usual channels on the AMTA website, socials, and in your inbox – stay tuned.
AMTA2025 promises to be a landmark event with many new and exciting opportunities for connection and growth. We can’t wait to come together to celebrate this milestone.
On behalf of the Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) and the 2025 Conference Organising Committee, I am delighted to officially invite you to join us for a truly special occasion, the 50th National Conference and PDS.
This year, we mark two extraordinary milestones: 50 years of AMTA and the 50th National Conference. This moment provides an opportunity to celebrate the past, present and future of music therapy in Australia.
The AMTA National Conference and professional development seminar (PDS) has long been a cornerstone event, bringing together clinicians, researchers, educators and industry leaders from across Australia and beyond. In recent years, music therapists have navigated rapid changes across healthcare, education and community settings. This conference provides a space to reconnect, reflect and refocus as we embed new ideas and directions within the strong foundations of our profession. For our 50th year, the scope of the conference will also be widened to help us showcase our profession to a wider audience.
We are confident this conference will provide an invaluable opportunity for learning, development and connection. We look forward to celebrating, reflecting, and envisioning the next 50 years of music therapy together.
See you in Melbourne!
In 2025, we proudly celebrate AMTA’s 50th anniversary. This milestone reflects five decades of impact and innovation that have shaped the evolution of music therapy in Australia and across international practice and research.
Over the years, we have navigated the ever-changing landscape of health and wellbeing, balancing between adapting to established systems and challenging them when necessary. While music therapy has gained recognition at high levels of policy, our recent fight for continued inclusion in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reminds us how fragile our place within these systems can be. The very qualities that make music therapy so distinctive can also make it difficult to define within traditional structures, reinforcing our ongoing need to self-advocate.
At the same time, music therapists have adapted to evolving understandings of health and wellbeing, shaping, and reshaping our approaches in response to the needs of those we support. We connect with people in ways that are intimate, immediate, and deeply personal, offering new possibilities when other approaches may fall short.
This year, we invite you to celebrate our impact and help shape the future of our profession through innovation.
Impact reflects the positive impact our profession has had across Australia over the last 50 years. It refers to our shared vision, the collaborations that strengthen our work, and the people and communities we aim to support through our practice and research.
Innovation examines past and contemporary challenges and explores how we can learn from these challenges to best position our profession in Australia moving forward. Challenges prompt us to listen more deeply, adapt and innovate.
At its heart, music therapy is about people; about how we connect, communicate and create meaning together through music. As we celebrate the milestone of 50 years of AMTA, let’s reflect on how we can make an even greater positive impact for the next 50 years across Australia.
An invitation from Karen Bolger RMT, Sponsorship CoordinatorThe AMTA2025 Sponsorship Prospectus is now available, and the online form is live on the website. Please take a look at the diverse opportunities available, including an exclusive package for AMTA members. If you have any ideas or contacts for potential sponsors, please reach out.
Janeen (she/her) is a Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Melbourne, bringing over 20 years’ clinical experience in acute paediatrics to her research. Before transitioning to full-time research, Janeen was Team Leader of Music Therapy at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. Janeen’s research emphasises the role of music in early brain injury recovery and as a non-pharmacological intervention in critical care settings
What motivated you to be part of the committee for AMTA’s 50th national conference?
Haha, I don’t actually need the CPD points, so let’s just say there were also some persuasive conversations with people I have enormous respect for! But truly, I’m excited to be working with such an incredible team to create a milestone conference that’s worthy of AMTA’s 50th celebration. Honestly, I feel quite guilty carrying the Conference Convenor title because I’m not sure this exceptional committee will leave me very much to do.
En masse, it’s been a particularly challenging time for music therapists, with the potential changes to the NDIS and the ongoing advocacy efforts surrounding this. But this isn’t new for our profession, and I believe there is enormous strength to be drawn from the collective wisdom of the Australian music therapy community.
My hope is that we can lead a conference that not only offers the individual support people may need but also creates space for a joyful celebration. I want attendees to leave feeling invigorated with new learning, renewed energy, and strengthened skills to critically engage with the ongoing development of music therapy in the contexts that matter most to them.
What do you find most valuable about attending conferences, and how might that shape your contribution this year?
For me, one of the most valuable parts of attending conferences is the connection, both the joyful reunions with familiar faces and the opportunity to build new friendships. That sense of community is incredibly important and it’s probably obvious that I love people and chatting to them.
But beyond that, I really hope there are presentations, experiences, and conversations that challenge us. The moments that push us all to be just a little bit better are the ones that tend to stay with me after a conference ends. I hope that I can contribute to creating some of those positive, reflective and meaningful moments.
Beyond your professional bio, what’s one fun fact you’d like the music therapy community to know about you?
I’m a big fan of historical fiction, especially stories that connect with my Scottish heritage. Based on the number of books I’ve read about women being burned at the stake, I’m increasingly convinced I was probably a witch in a past life - someone who connected with people, talked to animals, healed with herbs and music, and was just a little too outspoken for everyone’s comfort.
Phoebe (she/her) is a registered music therapist and researcher based in Naarm/Melbourne. Since 2016, Phoebe has held clinical and research roles on various projects at The University of Melbourne with people living with dementia and their care-partners. Alongside this, Phoebe has a special interest in mental health and trauma, providing music therapy services at NCASA since 2017. This is her third year as Events Chair for AMTA.
What motivated you to be part of the committee for AMTA’s 50th national conference?
Conference is a big component of my role as AMTA Events Chair! But aside from that, I was excited to be part of such a significant event for the music therapy community – it’s a big moment for the profession and I’m excited to help make it meaningful. I hope that I can contribute my experience and knowledge, including feedback from previous years, to make this a special and celebratory event that is well-organised, supports AMTA’s broader advocacy efforts, and is responsive to member needs.
What do you find most valuable about attending conferences, and how might that shape your contribution this year?
Learning, connecting, critically reflecting. Exposure to different practices, perspectives and new ideas. Uplifting each other and the profession. Connecting through music.
Beyond your professional bio, what’s one fun fact you’d like the music therapy community to know about you?
My undergraduate music degree is in classical oboe performance and my niece (just started high school) has started learning it, too! After one term of lessons, she’s very excited that we can now “talk oboe”, which of course is very cool.
Jinah (she/her) is an associate professor of music therapy at the University of Melbourne and serves as the editor of the Australian Journal of Music Therapy. Prior to moving to Melbourne in mid-2020, she was the head of the Creative Arts Therapies department at Jeonju University in South Korea. Her research focuses on autism, child welfare and cultural perspectives in music therapy.
What motivated you to be part of the committee for AMTA’s 50th national conference?
Having settled in Melbourne for some time, I’ve felt that now is the right moment to serve AMTA. Co-leading the scientific committee with one of my favourite Australian colleagues has been an absolute joy. I am honoured to participate in this milestone conference, which celebrates our profession while shaping its future.
What do you find most valuable about attending conferences, and how might that shape your contribution this year?
Conferences provide a valuable opportunity for intellectual stimulation and a chance to reconnect with familiar colleagues, those I’ve read about and heard from, and new individuals I have yet to meet. The exchange of ideas, energy, and diverse perspectives inspires me, and I hope to contribute by fostering meaningful discussions and connections that will shape our profession moving forward.
Beyond your professional bio, what’s one fun fact you’d like the music therapy community to know about you?
As a child, I was endlessly optimistic about who I could become. My dreamed-up careers ranged from firefighter to a Korean Sherlock Holmes - even Arsène Lupin! But my most ambitious goal? Becoming a wizard. Every night, I practiced spells, convinced that one day, I would make magic real. Those were the days, my friends!
Zara (she/her) is an RMT and researcher based in Naarm/Melbourne. In her clinical work, Zara supports people with cognitive, neurological and intellectual disabilities. She is currently Senior Music Therapist at St John of God Accord and facilitates the Rewire Musical Memories choir. As a post-doctoral fellow at The University of Melbourne, Zara’s research focuses on using music to support people living with dementia and their supporters.
What motivated you to be part of the committee for AMTA’s 50th national conference?
The first music therapy conference I went to was the 40th Australian Music Therapy Conference – I remember being inspired and proud to be entering the profession at such a pivotal moment in its history. Ten years later, and in the shadow of the current political climate at home and abroad, I feel that now, more than ever, we need to celebrate the wonderful work that we do, while also ensuring that we are continually reflecting, collaborating and growing together to maximise our impact individually and professionally.
I am proud to volunteer on this committee, and hope that we can bring you an inspiring celebration of music therapy this year.
What do you find most valuable about attending conferences, and how might that shape your contribution this year?
I love learning, the thing I value most about conferences is that moment when you learn something new that shifts your thinking – sometimes it's ground-breaking, sometimes it's just a small perspective change, but always a great feeling. My aim for the conference this year is to offer every attendee the chance to experience these moments – I hope that our scientific program provides a great balance of stimulation, reflection and connection.
Karen Bolger (she/her) is a dedicated health services leader with a clinical background in music therapy and over 20 years’ experience in public and not-for-profit health and aged care. As the Victorian Regional Director of Mission at Calvary, she provides strategic leadership for mission and pastoral services. Karen is a strong advocate for health-promoting palliative care, working to strengthen skills, conversations and confidence around healthy aging, dying, caring and grieving.
What motivated you to be part of the committee for AMTA’s 50th national conference?
I had such a great time convening the 2010 National Music Therapy conference that when Janeen asked me to join the team this time, I couldn’t say no ?
What do you find most valuable about attending conferences, and how might that shape your contribution this year?
Connecting with colleagues, engaging with new thought and evidence, reflecting on practice and affirming my identity as a music therapist.
Beyond your professional bio, what’s one fun fact you’d like the music therapy community to know about you?
I love ironing. There is no greater joy than turning a big basket of jumbled washing into a warm, neat pile of clothes that can be easily retrieved from a cupboard when needed. It’s like a gift to my future self.
AMTA's 50th National Conference is managed by Conference Professionals.
If you have any queries, please email the team. We look forward to hearing from you.
