Setting the Stage for Young Aussie Voices

Setting the Stage for Young Aussie Voices

Ed Krutsch

 

Kate Duncan is the CEO of The Push, Australia’s leading youth music organisation. Since stepping into the role, Kate has driven the organisation’s bold transformation from a Victorian-based charity into a national voice for young people in music, delivering programs and events that connect and inspire thousands across every state and territory.

A passionate advocate for young people and music, Kate Duncan’s career spans award-winning work in local government and managing the National Youth Week grants program for the Victorian Government. She is a graduate of Melbourne Business School’s For-Purpose Executive Leadership Program, a board member of the Melbourne Recital Centre, and a former member of the ABC Advisory Council. Kate is this weeks Pro Bono Australia Change Maker, read on for our interview with her!

Describe your career trajectory and how you got to your current position.

The experiences you have as a young person shape the rest of your life. It’s a period of transition and a pivotal time when you’re figuring out who you are and what you’re into.

For me, that discovery began the day I jumped the fence to attend Push Over ’98 – The Push’s annual all-ages music festival. I was 15 years-old and I couldn’t afford the ticket. Jumping the fence unlocked an opportunity to be surrounded by thousands of young people who, like me, had found their place through music. I realised for the first time what access really meant. That moment changed everything. It gave me belonging, purpose and direction.

It was through this that I got involved in my local council’s Push program – staging regular all-ages events across Melbourne. I saw the powerful role local government and youth work can play in a young person’s life. When young people are trusted with responsibility and creative freedom, they rise to it.

Over many years of volunteering, I went on to study youth work at university, which gave me a theoretical understanding of working with young people. I spent almost a decade working in local government, delivering a range of award-winning youth music programs across Melbourne’s north. Those years showed me that local government, as the most accessible level of government, can profoundly influence a young person’s trajectory. It also taught me the value of community, collaboration and creating spaces where young people feel seen, supported and celebrated.

In 2015, I joined The Push as Creative Producer, working with young people across Victoria to stage large-scale all-ages events and programs. One of the most memorable was Live at the Steps – an annual event that drew tens of thousands of young people to the steps of Parliament of Victoria. Featuring some of Australia’s biggest artists, the event connected with so many young people because it was staged by young people, for young people.

In 2017, I stepped into the role of CEO. Since this time, The Push has expanded our reach nationally. We’ve positioned The Push as a trusted national voice for young people, music and community. We’re removing the chance, removing the luck, and ensuring every young Australian can access the life-changing power of music.

Tell us about your role at The Push, and what it means to you.

As CEO, I lead a team working to ensure music is recognised not as a “nice to have,” but as essential infrastructure for Australia’s wellbeing and future. Our programs reach young people in inner-city schools, regional youth centres and outer-suburban shopping malls. We are giving young people access to live music, creative pathways and the skills to shape their own futures.

Over the last decade, The Push has grown and been positioned as Australia’s leading youth music charity, expanding our reach nationally and being featured as a case study in the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy: Revive. This recognition reflects not only the impact of our programs, but also the strength of our purpose: a nation where every young person can participate and thrive in Australian music.

At its heart, The Push’s work is about why we exist: to address the social inequities that prevent young people from participating fully in Australian culture. Right now, barriers like cost, location, and age restrictions mean too many young people are missing out, especially those in outer-suburban and regional communities. When that happens, we don’t just lose future artists or audiences, we lose connection, community, and the sense of belonging that music brings.

That’s why we’re not just delivering programs; we’re changing systems. We’re advocating for music to claim its rightful place alongside education and sport. We’re calling for more music teachers in schools. And we’re elevating young people from participants to decision-makers, giving them real agency in the policies, programs and spaces that shape their lives.

This role means so much to me. It’s a privilege to transform my own story, a teenager who had to jump a fence to see a gig, into a movement that opens doors for others, especially those who’ve never been invited in.


If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself as you first embarked on your career?

Know your purpose. Know your why. It’s easy to get lost in the how - the projects, the outputs, the to-do lists. But lasting change comes from understanding the social problem you’re trying to solve and staying anchored to it.

I’d also tell myself to make space for young people in every decision. Change doesn’t happen to young people; it happens with them. Their lived experience isn’t a case study, it’s expertise, and it should inform how we design programs, policies and futures.

Are there any words, or a phrase, you live by day to day?

Music is as essential as sport.

Music builds confidence, connection and belonging. If we can train enough PE teachers, we can train enough music teachers. Music deserves its rightful place in our national life.

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