Teetering on the fringe of Australian music scholarship and knowledge institutions, research and teaching of local Indigenous musics hold a marginal place, belying the positioning of Indigenous music-makers at the centre of international representations of Australian culture, and the dynamic local connections of Indigenous music-making to Australian landscapes and social realities. Music’s ubiquity and diversity worldwide show its potential as a tool to manage the changing world in societies of the past and present, yet this potential is largely neglected in contemporary Australia, and our theories and evidence base are limited by the narrow western focus within our knowledge institutions. The sheer weight of institutional investment in purportedly superior European musics prolongs Australia’s characteristic cultural cringe and the trivialization of Indigenous cultures. Recent calls to decolonize music education and decentre the study of western classical music ring hollow in the Australian context because, despite the glossy pictures and stated aspirations, there is a big gap at the heart of our music institutions. Addressing this gap requires not just greater inclusion of Indigenous people and their musics, but also, we argue, advocacy for Indigenous self-determination as core business.

在澳大利亚音乐学术和知识机构的边缘摇摇欲坠，当地土著音乐的研究和教学处于边缘地位，掩盖了土著音乐制作人在澳大利亚文化国际代表中心的定位，以及土著音乐在当地的动态联系-制作澳大利亚的风景和社会现实。音乐在世界范围内的普遍性和多样性显示出其作为管理过去和现在社会不断变化的世界的工具的潜力，但这种潜力在当代澳大利亚很大程度上被忽视了，我们的理论和证据基础受到我们知识范围内狭隘的西方关注的限制机构。对据称优越的欧洲音乐的机构投资的绝对重量延长了澳大利亚特有的文化畏缩和土著文化的琐碎化。最近呼吁非殖民化音乐教育和分散对西方古典音乐研究的呼吁在澳大利亚背景下显得空洞，因为尽管有光鲜的图片和明确的愿望，但我们的音乐机构的核心仍然存在很大差距。解决这一差距不仅需要更多地包容原住民及其音乐，而且我们认为，还需要倡导将原住民自决作为核心业务。我们的音乐机构的核心存在很大差距。解决这一差距不仅需要更多地包容原住民及其音乐，而且我们认为，还需要倡导将原住民自决作为核心业务。我们的音乐机构的核心存在很大差距。解决这一差距不仅需要更多地包容原住民及其音乐，而且我们认为，还需要倡导将原住民自决作为核心业务。