Articles & Case Studies
The Office of the Protective Commissioner and the Office of the Public Guardian is staffed by 330 people who
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k after the financial and personal affairs of people who are unable to make decisions on their own behalf. Both organisations face significant challenges including;
- Restructures in both
- Increasing demand for service
- Moving offices across the whole organisation
- Consequent loss of skilled staff
- Engagement of new staff
- Complex work often involving families in conflict
At the end of 2007 the Commissioner invited staff to form a festive season choir and 20 staff formed the inaugural choir including people with trained voices, others who had sung in the school choir and people who believed they were tone deaf! With the support of a professional singing teacher the choir first sang for and end-of-year afternoon tea and the performance was a resounding success. The choir decided that they wanted to continue to sing as a group and later we extended membership to all business centres of Attorney Generals Department located at Parramatta. While not designed to be a performance choir they will have performed a further four times by the holiday break – all within the broader Department.
"From my perspective, the choir has provided an invaluable platform for cross and intra-organisational understanding, is a great team building activity and has also been beneficial to singers with all levels of experience. People who previously communicated via e-mail have met each other on a different playing field and the positive effect has translated back to their daily work.
Staff who have not joined the choir remain great supporters and frequently ask members about the choir and when we are performing next. It has become a marker point in the week for all members. It takes only an hour, but that hour is a respite from our demanding and stressful jobs when we immerse ourselves in an activity that is different, energising, a team endeavour, mentally stimulating and just downright fun." Imelda Dodds, Protective Commissioner and Public Guardian
Music Builds Bridges in the Brain
ScienceNOW Daily News, April 16, 2008
Harvard Medical School and Boston College researchers have found that taking music lessons can strengthen connections between the two hemispheres of the brain in children, but only if
they practice diligently.
For the children who practiced at least 2.5 hours a week, a region of the corpus callosum that connects movement-planning regions on the two sides of the brain grew about 25% relative to the size of the brain.
With every child, the researchers found that the size increase in the corpus callosum predicted the improvement on a nonmusical test that required the children to tap out sequences on a computer keyboard.
"Creativity has become the most universally endangered species in the Twenty First Century. Never has the need for creativity been so compelling and never has genuine creativity been in such short supply. From boy bands to barbeque sauces the problem is the same – instead of experiencing the refreshing spray of authentic originals we risk drowning in a sea of superficiality and imitations. We have built a broadband culture but not the creative content to supply it. Our ability to communicate the potentially creative far outstrips actual creative input. In the absence of creativity life becomes predictable, repetitious and boring. We live in a world of echoes and shadows like the inhabitants of Plato’s cave." Watts Wacker and Ryan Matthews
- The Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education is a major outcome of UNESCO’s Second World Conference on Arts Education held in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, on 25 – 28 May 2010. Convened at the initiative of UNESCO the Conference gathered more than 650 officials and experts in arts education from 95 countries. The document reflects the conviction of the IAC members and other Conference participants that arts education has an important role to play in the constructive transformation of educational systems that are struggling to meet the needs of learners in a rapidly changing world. Download here.
- 2010 IBM Global CEO Study: How has the nature of leadership changed in the new economic environment? Creativity is the most important leadership quality over the next 5 years.
- Sparking creativity at work: Michael Rennie Life Matters, ABC Radio National, 30 August 2010. The modern business environment is anti-creative, says Michael Rennie, but every business wants to be more innovative, more creative.
- Joy at Work: The impact of non-professional singing workshops on employee wellbeing. Christina Purcell and Carolyn Kagan, Manchester 2007
- The significance of choral singing for sustaining psychological wellbeing: findings from a survey of choristers in England, Australia and Germany. Stephen Clift and Grenville Hancox
- Choral singing and psychological wellbeing: Quantitative and qualitative findings from English choirs in a cross-national survey. Stephen Clift and Grenville Hancox
- Effects of group singing and performance for marginalized and middle-class singers. Betty A. Bailey and Jane W. Davidson
- The Most Important Leadership Quality for CEOs? Creativity – Fast Company, 2010
- 8 Ways to Foster Innovation in Your Company, Inc. 2010 Creativity fosters innovation, but how can you ignite creative sparks within your organization? We’ve compiled lessons on developing a vibrant research and development strategy. CLICK here for more.
- A Snapshot of the Future of Australian Families, Work and Learning by Jeff Gilling – 2010 Speech at the Population Australia 2050 Summit
- In today's innovation-driven economy, understanding how to generate great ideas is an urgent managerial priority. And that calls for major doses of creativity. But many leaders assume creativity is too elusive and intangible to be managed. Click here for more.
- Study of 600 choir members in England: Article 1, Article 2
- Systematic review of the research on singing and wellbeing for non-clinical populations
- E-journal of studies in music education covers a variety of programs being carried out in Aust and beyond
- Singing, Stress and the Endocrine System’ - Swedish research
- Joy at work - benefits of singing for employee wellbeing
- Research on singing and wellbeing - Newcastle University: Article 1, Article 2
- Management Matters in Australia: Just how productive are we? - Australian Management Practices and Productivity global benchmarking project - PDF 1.0MB
- Community Music in Australia - Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University - PDF 4.4MB
- Mapping Social Cohesion 2009 - The Scanlon Foundation Surveys - PDF 956kB
- How's Your Creative Fitness? - Not For Profit Network Australia - PDF 172kB
- Creativity_vs_Innovation - "The Innovation Pipeline" extract PDF 8kB
- Increase Your Creativity: Live Abroad - Scientific American's 60 Second Psych - 14 June 2009 (Link to article)
- An Easy Way to Increase Creativity - Scientific American - 21 July 2009 (Link to article)
- The Cox Review of Creativity In Business - HM Treasury, England (Link to article)
- and-Cognition.pdf" target="_blank">How Arts Training Improves Attention and Cognition - The Dana Foundation - 14 Sept 2009 (Link to article)
- Why Music Moves Us - New research explains music's power over human emotions and its benefits to our mental and physical well-being by Karen Schrock - From the July 2009 Scientific American Mind
(Link to article)- Be Pro-active : How To Get Your Organisation to Recognise Your Hidden Talent and Untapped Potential - by People Empowered
(Link to article)- Business Community Intelligence, Issue 15 2009 - Viewpoint: "Boosting Creativity" by Tania de Jong AM
(PDF 180kb)- Developing and revitalizing rural communities through arts and creativity
(Link to article)- 'Embrace it': Leunig sees downturn's silver lining
(Link to article - ABC online)- 'AICC Thought Leadership article: Creative Leadership is the way forward' by Tania de Jong AM
(Link to Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce)- Now listen( Music and Mental Health) SMH 18.09.08
PDF 81KB- Music and Stress
PDF 61KB- 'Love 'em don't lose 'em' : Identifying Retention Strategies That Work
PDF 261KB- Personal Wellbeing Index
PDF 746KB- Tim Stockil on Creative Training
PDF 256KB- Toyota USA Case Study
PDF 68KB- How to unleash your creativity
(link to external site)- Creative Destruction and the financial crisis
PDF 20KB- The Brain - Creativity – Dr Paul Howard Jones talks about creativity, the brain and learning in a creative environment. Strategies to help nurture creativity lead to a substantial increase in creative brain activity, and the results also imply a link between time and a quality creative outcome.
(link to external site – 4 minute video clip)- Musicians Think Differently from the Rest of Us – New research shows that musicians simultaneously use both sides of their brain more often than nonmusicians
(link to external site – audio-clip)- Brain machine 'improves musicianship' – Scientists have created a technique that dramatically improves the performance of musicians. Related interview available at All In the Mind
(link to external site)- How to Unleash Your Creativity – In a discussion with Scientific American Mind executive editor Mariette DiChristina, three noted experts on creativity, each with a very different perspective and background, reveal powerful ways to unleash your creative self.
(link to external site)- Happiness: Good for Creativity, Bad for Single-Minded Focus – Happy people are open to all sorts of ideas, some of which can be distracting.
(link to external site)- People who feel better work better - so making people happy makes good sense. Tuesday, 08 September 2009 | The Australian Financial Review | Martyn Newman is the author of Emotional Capitalists: The New Leaders (John Wiley) and is the consulting psychologist for global recruitment and HR services company Randstad
- Unleashing Creativity – Moments of brilliance arise from complex cognitive processes. Piece by piece, researchers are uncovering the secrets of creative thinking.
(link to external site)- Is it true that creativity resides in the right hemisphere of the brain?
(link to external site)- If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? (link to more info)
- Managing Personal Creativity – Jeffrey H Mauzy
(link to external site)- Structure Underlies Other Organizational Determinants of Mental Health published in the UK journal of Systemic Practice and Action Research - Donald W. de Guerre, Merrelyn Emery, Peter Aughton and Andrew S. Trull Workplaces are implicated in the current global epidemic of mental illness. This paper presents early results from an action research project designed to investigate and prevent mental illness at work. Read more....
To read some of the research on this topic, please select one of the below articles:
Canterbury Christ Church University - Sidney de Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health Research Project Outcomes
- Singing and Health: Summary of a Systematic Mapping and Review of Non-Clinical Research - Professor Stephen Clift, Grenville Hancox, Rosalia Staricoff and Christine Whitmore
PDF 1.4mb- The Silver Song Club Project: Summary of a Formative Evaluation - Hilary Bungay and Ann Skingley
PDF 1.6mb- Choral Singing, Wellbeing and Health: Summary of Findings from a Cross-national Survey - Stephen Clift, Grenville Hancox, Ian Morrison, Bärbel Hess, Don Stewart and Gunter Kreutz
PDF 1.9mbVideo Clips:
- Jose Antonio Abreu: Help me bring music to kids worldwide
- Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
- World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale
- Entrepreneurs can change the world At its best, entrepreneurship captures the essence of childhood imagination and adult endeavour. This slick video below, written and produced by Sonja Jacob and designed by Ben White, reminds us that creation and determination, fused with possibility, can create great success.
- Edward de Bono on Creative Thinking Edward de Bono, renowned expert on creative thinking, talks about creativity and about thinking outside the box. Be sure to check out more from Doctor de Bono and solve his three creative challenges at www.thinkoutsidethebox.se
- Hands Up Part 1: "How Creative are you?" Does school kill creativity? Do people lose creative ability over time, and is our education system the culprit? Find out for yourself in this fascinating video... as children get older, they often see themselves as less creative. Andrew Grant and Gaia Grant went back to school to find out if children have any ideas on how adults can become more creative. They were not surprised to discover that their findings correlated with the latest research from Harvard.
- Hands Up Part 2: "Creativity secrets from the kids"
- Hands Up Part 3: "Creativity secrets from the Experts"
Select one of the articles below to download :

