During the Whitlam years, tertiary education burgeoned in Australia. Colleges of Advanced Education, most of them transformed Teachers' Colleges and unconvinced that their coaches would not turn out to be pumpkins after all, sprang up and/or expanded in city and country districts in all states. A national study carried out in 1977 showed that tertiary music and music education was everywhere healthy and in some places flourishing. In 1980 the Razor Gang went on a surgical rampage, perpetrating amalgamations in the name of economy on the GAEs, and forcing many of them into alliances as unwieldy as they were unholy. In 1987 a national review involving universities as well as GAEs was launched.

Elizabeth Silsbury's article traces those changes, describes their effect on music and takes a punt on what might happen when the dust settles for the third time in less than 20 years.