MY PROFESSION, MY VOICE

Results of The Australian Music Therapy

Associations 2016 Workforce Census

Authors: Natalie Jack, Grace Thompson, Bridgit Hogan, Jeanette Tamplin,

Rebecca Eager and Bronte Arns.
Published by the Australian Music Therapy Association Inc., September 2016, Melbourne, Australia.
 Contents

Introduction 3
Executive Summary 4
Results Snapshot 5
Membership 6
Qualifications 7
Demographics 11
Music Therapy Work 15
Non Music Therapy Work 34
Telehealth 35
Social Media 36
Service Changes 37
Finances and Funding 41
Music Therapy Career 47
Music Therapy and the AMTA 50
Thank You 53
2
 Introduction

This survey was initiated by the Board of

Directors of the Australian Music Therapy
Association (AMTA) in April 2016 in order to fill
the associations need to have accurate and
detailed data to present to private, public and
government organisations when advocating for
music therapy and music therapists in Australia.
T h e A M TA a l s o d e s i r e d t o p r o v i d e i t s
membership with data on their profession, so
that they may use it in their own advocacy,
clinical, research and development initiatives.
This report has been compiled for distribution to
AMTA members and the general public, and
may be disseminated to other organisations as
required.

3
 Executive Summary

This survey captured the responses of 418 participants, 89% of which were
Registered Music Therapists in Australia.

The Australian Music Therapy Association membership is a group of

professionals who are highly educated in both music therapy and other
professions. They take their profession seriously and care deeply about both
their clients and their colleagues. AMTA members are by a vast majority, female,
and perhaps because of this, many professionals spend time away from their
work for family related reasons.

AMTA members work across a large variety of physical settings, organisational

settings and clinical populations, in addition to leadership, education, research
and positions in other fields. Many members work in one or more part time
positions.

Music therapists are faced with many issues and challenges in their work lives,
especially related to awareness and advocacy of music therapy, jobs and pay
rates, continuing education and recognition, perceived value and job satisfaction.

Members of AMTA live in all states and territories of Australia, and there are
specific challenges faced by those living in remote or regional areas.

The financial and time based resources of maintaining membership of AMTA can
be difficult for some members who work part time, take a break for the profession
and who have more than one profession.

Respondents would like more opportunities for professional development,

networking and connecting with other AMTA members.

Music therapists are a valuable healthcare resource in the community who work
hard and see the positives of their profession.

Thank you again to all who participated in creating this resource. We hope you
find it a useful addition to your own advocacy efforts.

4
 Results Snapshot

62% of respondents
were aged 30 - 49
years

88% of
The online surveys
respondents
response rate was 71%
were female,
10% were
male and 2% On average,
did not 69% of music
disclose therapists
work is direct
and indirect
client work

5
 Membership
Of the 418 respondents, 371 were Registered Music
Therapists in Australia.

6
 Qualifications - Graduating Year

Music therapist respondents graduated in the following years -

Year of Graduation Number of Graduates

2011 - 2015 107
2006 - 2010 97
2001 - 2005 64
1996 - 2000 49
1991 - 1995 31
1986 - 1990 9
Prior to 1986 4

7
 Qualifications - Music Therapy

Respondents reported holding the following music therapy

specific qualifications -

8
 Qualifications - Other Areas

The highest level of education of respondents who hold

qualifications other than music therapy -

9
 Qualifications - Other Areas

Areas of qualification* held by respondents, other than music

therapy -

*Please note - graphical representation only, size or frequency of qualification types does not infer majority.

10
Demographics - Age

Age of survey respondents -

11
Demographics - Gender

Gender of survey respondents -

12
 Demographics - Location

Location of survey respondents -

International respondents reported their location as Taiwan, Hong

Kong, Indonesia, Europe, Nepal, Singapore and Malaysia.

13
 Demographics - Location

Concentration of Australian based survey respondents -

14
 Music Therapy Work - Career Break

Reasons respondents took a career break from music therapy -

15
 Music Therapy Work - Hours Worked

Weekly hours worked in music therapy related jobs -

16
 Music Therapy Work - Positions Held

Number of music therapy related jobs held concurrently -

17
 Music Therapy Work - Facility & Title

Facility Type - total 614 Role Title - total 657

Aged Care 19% Music Therapist 77%
Organisation
Hospital 15% Educator 4%
Not For Profit 13% Contractor 4%
Organisation
Community 12% Business Owner 4%
Organisation
School 11% Researcher 3%

Private Home/Venue 10% Other 2%

Private Business 10% Manager 2%

University 5% Lecturer 1%

Other 4% Team Leader 0.8%

Corporate Business 1% Counsellor 0.6%

Correctional Facility 0.3% Case Manager 0%

18
 Music Therapy Work - Hours & Type

Hours Worked Weekly Per Job - total 495 Work Type - total 471

Less Than 5 Hours 44% Part Time Ongoing 25%

Private Practice 23%

5 - 9 Hours 23%
Part Time Limited
17%
Contract
10 - 19 Hours 15%
Own Business 14%

20 - 29 Hours 9%
Casual 12%

30 - 39 Hours 5%
Full Time Ongoing 7%

40 or More Hours 4% Full Time Limited

1%
Contract

19
Music Therapy Work - Gross Annual Income

20
Music Therapy Work - Client Age Groups

21
Music Therapy Work - Populations Served

Population % Number
Autism Spectrum Disorder 48.5 171
Developmental Disability 48.0 170
Early Intervention 37.0 131
Mental Health 37.0 131
Behavioural Disorders 36.0 127
Alzheimers Disease/Dementia 34.0 119
Elderly People 32.0 113
Learning Disability 31.5 111
Multiple Disability 28.5 100
Dual/Multiple Diagnosis 27.5 97
Speech/Communication Impairment 27.0 95
Palliative Care 25.5 90
Head/Brain Injury 25.0 88
Physical Disability 23.0 81
School - special education 22.0 77
Cancer 18.0 63
Supervision of Music Therapists 16.0 57
Abuse - physical/sexual 15.5 54
Stroke 15.5 54
Neurological Impairment - other 15.0 53
Parkinsons Disease 14.5 51
Music Therapy Research 13.0 46
Other Work Areas 11.5 41
Continued 22
Music Therapy Work - Populations Served Cont.

Population % Number
Hearing Impairment 11.5 40
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 11.5 40
Chronic Pain 11.0 39
Management/Administration 10.5 37
Aboriginal Health 10.0 35
Music Therapy Education of Tertiary Students 9.5 34
Non-Disabled 9.5 34
Visual Impairment 9.5 34
Eating Disorders 9.5 33
Substance Abuse 9.0 32
Carers 9.0 31
Medical/Surgical 8.5 30
School - mainstream education 7.5 27
Coma/Low Consciousness 7.5 26
None - not currently working 5.5 20
Stress Management - including corporate 5.5 19
Spinal Cord Injury 4.5 15
Neonatal 2.5 9
NICU 2.5 8
Forensic/Criminal Justice 2.0 7
Labour and Birth 1.0 4
AIDS 0.5 2
23
Music Therapy Work - Team Structure

24
 Music Therapy Work - Professional Service

39% of respondents - 136 people - reported

working in a professional service capacity,
on a committee for the AMTA or another
organisation.

The majority - 82 people or 59% - report

spending up to two hours per week on this
work. A further 43 people - 31% - report
spending between two and five hours per
week on professional service, while nine
people reported spending between six and
ten hours, two spend 11 to 16 hours, and a
further two spend over 16 hours.

25
 Music Therapy Work - Desired Hours

94% of respondents want to maintain or increase their current

work hours.

26
Music Therapy Work - Individual Clinical Work

89% of respondents have provided clinical music therapy in the

year prior to the survey.

62% of respondents saw between one and 14 individual clients

each week.

77% of respondents provided individual sessions with an

average length of between 16 and 60 minutes.

27
Music Therapy Work - Group Clinical Work 1
Average number of clients seen per week in group sessions

28
Music Therapy Work - Group Clinical Work 2
Average length of group sessions

29
Music Therapy Work - Average Annual Sessions
Average number of sessions received by clients, per year.

30
 Music Therapy Work - Operational Issues
Average time spent on various work tasks

Task % Time
Direct Client Work - face to face 51
Indirect Client Work - notes, meetings etc 18
Admin- data input, department meetings etc 8
Education 1 - to others about music therapy 4
Leadership & Supervision 4
Research 1 - reading literature 3
Promotion - and marketing of MT services 3
Other Tasks 3
Education 2 - teaching MT to tertiary students 2
Research 2 - conducting research projects 2
Writing - books, blogs & articles etc. 2
31
 Music Therapy Work - Supervision 1
Hours of supervision attended by respondents as a supervisee
per year

32
 Music Therapy Work - Supervision 2

Types of professionals that respondents receive supervision

from

Hours of supervision respondents would like to receive as a

supervisee per year

33
 Non Music Therapy Work

In the 12 months leading up to the survey, 55% of

respondents had worked in a job that was not
related to music therapy.

The top five areas that respondents worked in that

were not music therapy related were music
teaching, music performance, other healthcare,
other teaching, and arts & community work.

Of those who worked in non music therapy related

jobs, 80% worked up to 19 hours per week in those
jobs, and 20% worked between 20 and 40+ hours
per week in those jobs.

Of those who worked in non music therapy related

jobs, 62% earned between $1 and $19000, 27%
earned between $20000 and $59000, and 11%
earned between $60000 and over $100000 from
those jobs in gross annual income.

34
 Telehealth

287 respondents had not used any telehealth

services in the 12 months prior to the survey. For
those who did use telehealth, the table below
outlines uses.

Telehealth Use Number

Administration & Meetings 42
Supervision - Receiving or Providing 34
Research and/or Conference 21
Clinical Work 16

Respondents reported using the 16 different services

listed below for telehealth work.

Skype GoTo Meeting

Face Time Scopia
Movi Video Blue Jeans
QHealth Zoom
AnyMeeting GoTo Webinar
LifeSize Google Meeting
Blackboard Collaborate Adobe Connect
Citrix Department/Facility Custom Software

35
 Social Media

8% of respondents do not use social media

89% of respondents use social media for personal

use, and 40% use social media for business use.

Social media services used by respondents

36
 Services Changes 1
Respondents who reported seeing growth in their music therapy
services over the last five years.

Respondents who reported seeing reduction in their music

therapy services over the last five years.

37
 Services Changes 2
People who initiated the growth in the music therapy services
over the last five years.

People who initiated the reduction in the music therapy services

over the last five years.

38
 Services Changes 3

Reason for Service Growth Response

Increased need/demand/referrals 27%

Success of MT work/program/good outcomes 11%
Increased funding available/grant success 10%
Marketing/promotion/networking/exposure 10%
Increased awareness of MT 8%
Growth/restructure of business/organisation 8%
Increased value of MT seen 7%
Word of mouth 6%
Education/presentations 5%
Formal funding structures e.g. NDIS/HCWA 4%
Research 2.5%
Student placement becoming paid position 1.5%

39
 Services Changes 4

Reason for Service Reduction Response

Lack of/reallocation of funding 53%

Management decision 17%

Leaving job for personal reasons 9%

Change/restructure of organisation 8%

Decreased client need/referral 3%

Professional relationship problems/politics 2%

Marketplace competition 2%
Work refused because of unacceptable
conditions
2%

Poor music therapy work quality 2%

Planning for/uncertainty around NDIS 2%

40
 Finances and Funding - Private Practice

Amount earned per hour by respondents in private practice

41
 Finances and Funding - Employed Work

Gross amount earned per hour by respondents in employed

positions

42
 Finances and Funding - Satisfaction

57% - 191 respondents - believe they are charging

and/or being paid a fair amount for their services.
28% - 93 respondents - do not believe they are being
paid and/or charging a fair amount. A further 15% -
52 respondents - expressed a mixed response,
including that they are happy with the amount they
are charging for their private practice work, but not
with the rates for their employed work.

57% - 191 respondents - stated that they would like

to earn and/or charge more for their services. 35% -
116 respondents - do not want to charge and/or earn
more. A further 8% - 29 respondents - expressed
mixed ideas, including that they would like to be paid
for all hours of work, not just the clinical component,
and that they would like to be paid the same as
recognised, state-based award rates.

43
 Finances and Funding - Award Rates
Respondents who reported their wage was based on a
recognised award

Respondents reported being paid according to the award types

and areas listed below

State Health Professionals Awards Education/Teachers Awards

University Academic/Research Awards
Organisation Specific Awards
Support Services Awards
Aged and Home Care Awards
Allied Health Professionals Awards
Health Practitioners Awards
Education Support Awards
Professional Officer Awards
Health Services Union Awards
Community & Disability Awards
Public Health Sector Awards
Childrens Service Awards
Community Development Awards
OT & SW Awards

44
 Finances and Funding - Sources

Respondents reported the following funding sources for music

therapy work.

45
 Finances and Funding - Expense Budgets
Respondents reported the following amounts allocated annually
for expenses for their music therapy work. Examples include
instruments, equipment, stationary travel, professional
development etc.

46
 Music Therapy Career - Advancement

Around two-thirds of respondents reported believing they have the

opportunity for advancement in the music therapy profession.

Comments centred around qualifiers for the yes answer, and

reasons why respondents chose the no answer. Themes listed
below.

Yes but - not in regional areas/clinical work/private practice/school

settings/as much as other professions
Yes but - only in research/academics/with hard work/with further
qualifications
Yes but limited options/opportunities/without another qualification
such as social work, psychology, occupational therapy etc.
No, there is no career structure for music therapists at all

47
 Music Therapy Career - Jobs & Satisfaction

52% of respondents reported not looking for work in the past 12

months. 44% looked for music therapy work during that time,
and 18% looked for work in a field other than music therapy

Respondents rated their satisfaction with their current music

therapy work situation on a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being not
at all satisfied, and 10 being extremely satisfied. 71% of
respondents reported their satisfaction levels to be in the upper
part of the scale, between 6 and 10.

not at all satisfied moderately satisfied extremely satisfied

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5% 2% 1% 2% 3% 16% 10% 23% 21% 10% 7%

48
 Music Therapy Career - Future Plans

73% of respondents plan to remain in their current music therapy

position, in the 12 months following the survey.

23% of respondents plan to seek a new music therapy position or

promotion, in the 12 months following the survey.

7% of respondents plan to leave the music therapy profession

temporarily, in the 12 months following the survey.

1% of respondents plan to leave the music therapy profession

permanently, in the 12 months following the survey.

47% of respondents plan to stay in the music therapy profession

until retirement.

24% of respondents do not know when they might leave the music
therapy profession.

13% of respondents plan to leave the music therapy profession

after 10 or more years, 7% in 5 - 10 years, and 9% in 0 - 5 years.

64% of respondents do not know when they will retire from the
music therapy profession.

49
 Music Therapy & AMTA - Services
77% of respondents reported that the AMTA was providing the
support and services they require, or mostly providing this support.
20% reported that the AMTA was not, or mostly not providing the
necessary support and services members required.

Comments provided on this question numbered 128 suggestions for

improvement, focused on more/free/higher quality/online professional
development and networking opportunities, increased advocacy/education/
lobbying/marketing of music therapy to the public/government/health funds,
membership and fees being too high, poor response from AMTA on issues, poor
CPD process, needing increased and better quality online services, and
needing more services for regional and remote members.

The seven comments that provided positive feedback on the AMTAs services
focused on doing a generally good job, praise for establishing the EO paid
position and being a member of the AHPA, having a good CPD process, offering
good student discounts and offering a great range of professional development
opportunities.

50
 Music Therapy & AMTA - Issues
A total of 328 respondents provided their thoughts on what issue is
the most important one facing music therapists today.

Issue Number of
Responses

Understanding/awareness/promotion/advocacy of MT- lack of 115

Recognition/respect/valuing MT - lack of 95
Funding - government - lack of/cuts to/private 76
Jobs - access to/number of/full time 43
Rebates from Medicare and private health funds - lack of 31
Job security - lack of 24
University/tertiary - concern for quantity & quality of training 18
Pay - inadequacy of 17
Competition with volunteers/non-trained music therapists 13
Professional support & supervision - lack of, risk of burnout 13
Research and evidence - concern for quantity and quality 9
Career structure/development/progression - lack of 9
Support from AMTA - lack of 8
Professional skills/standards- establishment & maintenance of 8
Isolation - professional and geographic 4
Technology - keeping up with & balancing with interpersonal 4
Business skills - lack of 2

51
 Music Therapy & AMTA - Comments
130 general comments were made by respondents and fell into
the following categories

Number of
Comment Category Responses
Feedback for AMTA on issues 38

Thanking AMTA for the survey 19

Stating the survey was good 19

Interested in/looking forward to results 16

Feedback on/criticism of survey 14

Miscellaneous information re MT 12

General positive statements re MT 12

Thanks and positive feedback for AMTA 10

General information re MT work 10

Concern re privacy of survey 6

Criticism re exclusivity/usefulness of MT research 2

52
 Thank You

The AMTAs board of directors wishes to thank

each AMTA member that contributed to this
important and historic project. Your time and
effort in providing your thoughts, comments and
professional information is highly valued, and
now forms an important part of the future of the
music therapy profession and community.

53