This Saturday, 22nd October, Victorians will be heading to the polls for the 2016 Local Council elections, and Music Victoria has sorted out how the candidates feel about music issues.

Ahead of the Local Council elections on October 22nd, Music Victoria has surveyed over 2,000 candidates from 79 municipalities in order to see what their views are on the music issues that may affect Australians.

Thankfully, a large number of the candidates have realised that the majority of the difficulties that musicians face are due to a limited amount of venues and opportunities for which they can use to build experience. This awareness will hopefully end up with some major changes being implemented around the state.

The results are pretty good all around, with 77% stating that they would undertake a music audit in their local community, and 85% stating they would support a music strategy in their municipality.

Only 51% believe that funding is not adequate for music in their municipality, but 97% of those candidates did agree that they would support and increase in funding. Likewise, 98% of candidates have pledged support for increased use of council facilities and building in which music events can be held.

“Every municipality has a music industry – whether it’s bands, a community choir, teachers or a music store,” said Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan. “Many Victorian councils have shown great support for contemporary music over the last four years.”

“City of Melbourne, Ballarat and Mornington have developed live music strategies, but there’s still so much more that can be done.” If this is the sort of thing that will swing your vote on election day on Saturday, you can view all the received responses on the Music Victoria website here.

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