Schools tune in: How music is connecting kids to country
Hip hop artist DOBBY joins the Indigenous Literacy Foundation’s Busking for Change
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) has announced the return of its popular initiative Busking for Change in 2025—and it’s being championed by none other than award-winning musician and ILF Ambassador, DOBBY.
DOBBY, the stage name of Rhyan Clapham, is a Filipino and Murrawarri artist whose music fuses powerful cultural storytelling with hip hop, piano, and live drums. Born of two vibrant heritages—his family hailing from both Tacloban in the Philippines and the Murrawarri and Ngemba nations in Brewarrina and Weilmoringle—DOBBY uses his art to amplify Indigenous voices and stories. His acclaimed debut album WARRANGU; River Story, which was dedicated to the Barwon River and the Murray-Darling Basin, recently won the 2024 ARIA Award for Best World Album.
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Now, he’s bringing that passion to classrooms across the country by supporting Busking for Change, and encouraging students from across the country to sing a song from a different region and engage with a different culture and community.
“Music is deeply embedded in our Culture, in our lore and in our way of knowledge sharing,” says DOBBY. “So if anything, children are waiting for the system to realise this and fully utilise the power of music and storytelling.”
Busking for change: More than a performance
Now in its third year, Busking for Change is an ILF initiative designed to engage primary school students in singing and fundraising efforts while learning a song in an Aboriginal language. The campaign not only raises awareness and funds for the Foundation’s literacy and language programs, but also fosters a real, tangible connection between students and the rich cultural landscapes of First Nations communities.
The song this year is Country Tells Us When… in Yawuru language from the Broome (Rubibi) region in Western Australia. The words are based on an award-winning book of the same name, created by Community from Cable Beach Primary School in Broome and published by the ILF, while the music was co-written by Josh Pyke, children’s entertainer Justine Clarke, rapper and drummer DOBBY, and recorded by singer and actor Tehya Makani.
The 2025 goal is to recruit at least 100 schools and raise $80,000 for ILF’s Community Publishing program, to publish more books like Country Tells Us When… which will help create and give access to culturally relevant books to children in remote First Nations Communities, supporting language preservation and lifelong learning.
“When kids speak their Indigenous language, they sing to these lands,” says DOBBY. “And what better way than to do that through song? It’s not only important in our learning and understanding, but it is deeply healing and spreads so much joy.”
Guy Hayward, Principal of Cable Beach Primary School says, “Country Tells Us When… began with humble beginnings—born from a teaching need identified right here in our school by four very talented staff members. To see it grow into an award-winning, internationally celebrated work is something that fills our entire school Community with pride. Having it transformed into a song for the Busking for Change initiative is incredibly powerful—it reinforces many of our students’ sense of identity and deepens their pride in seeing their cultural practices and language shared and celebrated across the nation.”
A learning opportunity for all schools
Busking for Change provides an opportunity for schools across the country to engage with First Nations perspectives all year round, as DOBBY says, not just during NAIDOC Week.
“Meaningful engagement means shifting from ‘learning about’ to leaning with and from First Nations people,” DOBBY adds.
“It’s about listening and engaging in a meaningful relationship with our Culture and language,” he explains. “Busking for Change is a really amazing way for students to sing a song from a different regional community, each with rich Culture and lore specific to that community.”
It also supports the goals of the UN Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–2032), which calls for the preservation, revitalisation, and celebration of Indigenous languages across the globe.
“This initiative champions restoration, revival, and respect,” DOBBY says. “Projects like these don’t just preserve language—they bring it forward, out of the shadows of colonisation and into public, joyful, everyday use.”
DOBBY is enthusiastic about how accessible and impactful the program is for students and teachers alike.
“Music and education become tools of reclamation, giving communities a platform to speak in their own words, on their own terms.”
Busking for Change registrations are now open for 2025. Whether you’re a teacher in a metro school or a parent in a rural town, this is a chance to connect young people with the oldest living cultures on Earth—through the universal power of music.
