ARIA Music Teacher Award Terms and Conditions

Key Dates 

Nominations from the Public Open

9:00am (AEST) on 13 May 2024

Nominations from the Public Close

5:00pm (AEST) on 13 June 2024

Supporting Entries from Music Teachers Open

9:00am (AEST) on 13 May 2024

Supporting Entries from Music Teachers Close

5:00pm (AEST) on 20 June 2024

Public Voting for the Award Commences

(opening and closing times to be advised)

Winner of the Award Announced to the Public

As a part of the ARIA Awards winner announcements

 

Terms & Conditions 

What is the ARIA Music Teacher Award?

1.1. The ARIA Music Teacher Award – 2024 (the Award”) is a national award that is open to music teachers who meet certain eligibility criteria. In 2024, the Award is offered by the Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd (“ARIA”). ARIA will collaborate with The Song Room Limited (“The Song Room”) and other third parties, such as sponsors, in relation to the Award.

1.2. The purpose of the Award is to recognise music teachers who have had a positive influence on the lives of their students and community. One winner will receive the Award this year.

Who is Eligible to be proposed/nominated for the Award?

2.1. A Music Teacher must be proposed by an individual (including self-proposal by a Music Teacher) to be entered in the Award. Proposals will be accepted for individuals working in Music Programs in an educational context in Australia. For the purpose of this Award, a Music Teacher is defined as:

  1. Primary, secondary and tertiary specialist music teachers;
  2. Primary, secondary, early childhood and kindergarten teachers involved in a Music Program;
  3. Private tuition music teachers;
  4. Musicians working as contractors in education facilities;
  5. A musician working as a volunteer in a Music Program; or
  6. Musicians or teachers working in Music Programs within a community context or in a community arts setting.

A “Music Program” is defined as a set of sequential lessons with music learning outcomes. These lessons can take place as individual or group lessons which occur in private or in-school settings.

Eligible Music Programs must have run within Australia during the period occurring between 1 July 2023 and 13 June 2024 (“Music Program Period”). 

2.2. The Music Teacher must have taught the Music Program within Australia at any time during the Music Program Period in order to be considered eligible for the Award.

2.3. In order to be considered eligible for the Award the Music Teacher must during the Music Program Period:

  • be over 18 years of age; and
  • be an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.

2.4. Previous winners of the ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award are not eligible to be entered in the Award for this year.

2.5. Previous finalists (excluding previous winners) for the ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award and Music Teachers who have previously submitted an entry for the ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award, are eligible to be entered in the Award for this year.

2.6. The ARIA Board reserves the right to exercise its discretion regarding any special circumstances relating to eligibility for this Award.

Who Can Propose a Music Teacher for the Award?

3.1. Proposals can be submitted by any Australian resident located in Australia, including but not limited to students, other teachers/colleagues, school administrators, Principals, parent/guardian/s of a student and the eligible Music Teacher themselves (“Proposer/s”).

3.2. An eligible Music Teacher must receive a valid proposal in order to be considered for the Award.

How Do I Propose a Music Teacher for the Award?

4.1. During the Proposal Period (as defined in paragraph 5 below), Proposers must visit the ARIA Music Teacher Award website, and input the requested details in the proposal form. Proposers must submit the fully completed online proposal form. All mandatory fields in the online proposal form must be completed in order for the proposal to be deemed eligible for consideration. Incomplete or illegible proposals will be deemed invalid. Proposers and nominated Music Teachers are encouraged to read the Judging Criteria as this will assist with the preparation of the entry submission.

4.2. Proposers aged under 18 years at the date of the submission of the proposal must obtain their parent/legal guardian’s consent to submit a proposal.

4.3. The online proposal form requires the Proposer to provide contact information relating to the Music Teacher. Before submitting a proposal, the Proposer must obtain consent from the Music Teacher that they wish to enter to ensure that the Music Teacher agrees to any of their personal information being submitted to ARIA, The Song Room and any sponsors of the Award. It is important that the Proposer obtains the consent of their Music Teacher as the Music Teacher may be contacted by ARIA or The Song Room to make a further submission. The Music Teacher may also be contacted to provide further information regarding the Music Teacher and the Music Teacher’s contribution and their Music Program.

4.4. More than one proposal may be submitted during the Proposal Period for each eligible Music Teacher. Multiple proposals will not impact upon the selection of the final nominees for the Award.

4.5. ARIA does not charge any entry fees for submitting entries or proposals. However, as all submissions may only be submitted online, there may be costs associated with a Proposer’s internet service provider or mobile/other device service or data charges. The Proposer should check with their service provider for details of such fees before submitting a proposal.

When Do I Need to Submit a Proposal for a Music Teacher?

5.1. The online proposal form must be submitted between 9:00am (AEST) on 13 May 2024 and 5:00pm (AEST) on 13 June 2024 (the “Proposal Period”).

5.2. Proposals received outside of the Proposal Period will be deemed ineligible. Proposals are deemed made at the time each proposal is received by ARIA in its database and not at the time sent by the Proposer. ARIA accepts no responsibility for any late, lost or misdirected proposals due to technical disruptions, network congestion or for any other reason.

What Happens After I Submit a Proposal for a Music Teacher?

6.1. All proposals submitted during the Proposal Period will be reviewed by representatives from ARIA and The Song Room to verify the eligibility of the proposal, the Music Teacher and the Proposer. ARIA, in consultation with The Song Room, reserves the right to make the final judgment on eligibility. The decision of ARIA is final, and no correspondence will be entered into. ARIA and The Song Room are under no obligation to disclose or otherwise discuss with any persons, the nature of such considerations, and decisions made by ARIA and The Song Room.

What Do the Music Teachers Need to Do?

7.1. ARIA or The Song Room will contact all Music Teachers that have received a valid proposal.

7.2. If the Music Teacher wishes to be considered for the Award, the Music Teacher will be required to submit information via an online form (the link for this will be provided to the Music Teacher by ARIA) which includes:

  • text based responses to various questions, including information about their Music Program; and
  • up to three photographs and/or a video of no more than 2 minutes duration (please note that the photos and video are optional).

The Music Teacher will be required to follow the instructions provided to them in order to complete the supporting entry online.

7.3 The Music Teacher will be required to submit these materials to ARIA using the designated format. The Music Teacher warrants that all consents have been obtained to enable the Music Teacher to submit these materials to ARIA and for these materials to be uploaded to a secure website which is accessible for viewing by the Award judges and potentially used in accordance with paragraph 13.6.

7.4. By submitting an entry, the Music Teacher agrees to be contacted by ARIA or The Song Room regarding their entry.

7.5. The Music Teachers who wish to be considered for the Award must submit the information described in paragraph 7.2 between 9:00am (AEST) on 13 May 2024 and 5:00pm (AEST) on 20 June 2024.

7.6. Please note that if you are a Music Teacher that has submitted an entry for the ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Award in 2023, then ARIA will contact you and provide you with the opportunity to log into your submission from 2023 and make any amendments that you may wish to make for your 2024 entry before you submit it for consideration.

What is the Judging Process?

8.1. Following receipt of all proposal materials and supplementary entry materials from the respective Music Teachers, ARIA and The Song Room will make these materials available to a judging panel for consideration. The judging panel includes representatives from ARIA and The Song Room. The judging panel will use the- Judging Criteria to guide the judging process to assess each eligible Music Teacher that has been entered against each of the Judging Criteria. In addition, the judging panel may also undertake any further background checks, reference checks or reviews at its discretion.

8.2. The judging panel will create a shortlist of 20 Music Teachers. The decision of the judging panel is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The judging panel is under no obligation to disclose or otherwise discuss with any persons, the nature of such considerations, and decisions made by the judging panel.

8.3. The shortlist of 20 Music Teachers will then be referred to a smaller judging panel for consideration. This specific judging panel comprises of representatives from ARIA and The Song Room - which includes experts in the fields of music and/or music education. Guided by the Judging Criteria, this specific judging panel will select the four Music Teachers who will be nominated for the Award (“Award Nominees”). The decision of this judging panel is final and no correspondence will be entered into. This judging panel is under no obligation to disclose or otherwise discuss with any persons, the nature of such considerations, and decisions made by the judging panel.

When will the Award Nominees be announced to the public?

ARIA is planning to publicly announce the Award Nominees to the public in September/October 2024.

What happens if a Music Teacher is an Award Nominee?

10.1. Each of the Award Nominees will be paired with a musical artist (“Award Ambassador”). The pairing of each Award Nominee with an Award Ambassador is at the discretion of ARIA. The Award Ambassador will call in on the school or classroom of the Award Nominee on a date to be scheduled by ARIA. Each Award Nominee must be available for the meet up with the Award Ambassador (specific details including format, dates and times to be advised).

10.2. The Award Ambassador will call in on the Award Nominee’s school or class to learn about their Music Program, and this will be recorded and photographed for use by ARIA, The Song Room, the Award sponsor, media outlets and third parties, in various formats and mediums in relation to the Award (including for inclusion in the ARIA Awards program and various activities related to the ARIA Awards program) and the promotion of the Award and the ARIA Awards. Consent to being photographed and/or recorded is a condition of accepting the Award nomination.

10.3. As a part of the scheduled session with the Award Ambassador and the school/classroom of the Award Nominee (as referred to in paragraph 10.2), ARIA and The Song Room will require the Award Nominee and/or the school Principal to seek permission from the school/education facility and the parents of the students to be photographed and/or recorded. All persons who agree to ARIA and The Song Room recording and photographing them, consent to ARIA and The Song Room and their respective licensees using their name, likeness, image and/or voice (including photograph, film and/or recording of the same) in any media for an unlimited period without a fee or consideration, for the purpose of promoting the Award and being used in connection with the Award and future ARIA Music Teacher of the Year Awards and ARIA Awards. A legal release will be required to be signed for this purpose.

How is the winner of the Award Determined?

11.1. The winner of the Award will be determined by means of a public online vote and a voting school. The members of the voting school will comprise of professionals in the music industry, media and the field of music education. It will also comprise of personnel from ARIA partners (including sponsors) and other persons who are connected or have a professional interest in music education. The final voting tally be calculated on the basis of both the results of the general public voting and the results of the voting school. The votes from the public and the voting school will each account for a 50% share of the vote. Public votes and votes from the voting school will each determine an overall ranking for each Award Nominee.  Votes from the public and the voting school will be weighted to ensure that the votes from each of the two sources have equal impact on the final result. 

11.2. ARIA reserves the right to keep all voting tallies confidential. No results other than what is required for the purpose of determining which Award Nominee is the winner of the Award will be released to the public.

11.3. ARIA will publish separate information in relation to the public voting process following the announcement of the Award Nominees. 

When Will the Winner of the Award be Announced?

There will only be one winner of the Award this year. ARIA will announce the winner of the Award to the public as a part of the ARIA Awards winners announcement.

General Terms and Conditions

13.1. The Award Nominees and the winner of the Award agree to make themselves reasonably available for promotional or media activities that may be conducted in relation to the Award including activities conducted by ARIA, The Song Room, Award sponsors and media outlets.

13.2. If a person submits a proposal/entry form or provides supplementary materials to be considered for the Award, then that person accepts and agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions set out in this document.

13.3. Each individual warrants that any information or materials that it submits to ARIA as a part of the nominations and voting process for the Award does not: (a) infringe the privacy rights of any person; (b) does not infringe the copyright or other intellectual property rights of any person or organisation; (c) does not include information which is false, misleading or deceptive. Each individual indemnifies ARIA, The Song Room and the Award sponsor against any claims made against ARIA, The Song Room and the Award sponsor in respect of the foregoing.

13.4. ARIA, The Song Room and the Award sponsor may collect, store and disclose all or part of the information submitted by a person in connection with the nominations and voting process for the Award but only for purposes related to the Award and the conduct, administration and promotion of the Award.

13.5. All personal information (as defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)) (“Personal Information”) disclosed to ARIA and The Song Room in connection with the Award is collected for the purpose of the administration and presentation of the Award and for any other purposes for which you have given your express consent, and will be collected, used, and maintained according to the respective privacy policies of ARIA and The Song Room.

13.6. ARIA and The Song Room may use any information or material provided to them at any stage throughout the entry/proposal, judging and voting process for the Award as a part of promotional materials for the Award, general media for the Award, on the Award website and ARIA, The Song Room and the Award sponsor social media for purposes related to the Award, without any fee or other payments to the person who submitted or is included/depicted within the materials. If the person who submitted the materials has any moral rights in the materials, then that person consents to ARIA (and its licensees) doing any act that but for this consent would be an infringement of those moral rights.

13.7. The Award Nominees each agree that ARIA may use and license others to use the Award Nominee’s name, voice, likeness and any biographical materials which may have been provided to ARIA in respect of the Award, and in any related or derivative versions and/or uses of the materials and in the promotion of the Award and future ARIA Awards events and ARIA Awards content.

13.8. To the extent permitted by law, ARIA, the Award sponsor, The Song Room and their related entities and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents, exclude any and all liability for any loss or damage, whatsoever which is suffered or sustained, in connection with any person’s participation in the Award or ARIA, the Award sponsor or The Song Room’s use of any material submitted to it as a part of the Award or recorded or photographed in association with the Award. The Proposers, all entrants and the Award Nominees release ARIA, the Award sponsor and The Song Room (including its members, employees, and assigns) from all liabilities, claims and demands, in law or equity which the Proposer, an entrant, the Award Nominees and/or representatives may have against ARIA and The Song Room in relation to their involvement in the Award.

13.9. These Terms and Conditions may be modified by ARIA at any time in its sole discretion without liability to any person.

13.10. This document and the Award are governed by the laws of New South Wales and the parties (including without limitation the Proposers and Award Nominees) each submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales.

Who Should I contact if I Have any Questions?

Please contact ARIA at: awards@aria.com.au