ANAM was established in 1994, as part of prime minister Paul Keating's "Creative Nation" initiative.
[1] On 23 October 2008, the Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, announced that ANAM would not receive any government funding in 2009.
[1] Former artistic director Nick Deutsch [de] was appointed in 2016 and past artistic directors include composer Brett Dean and clarinettist Paul Dean.
Since 2020 located at the Abbotsford Convent in Abbotsford, Melbourne,[4] it is a member of the Australian Roundtable for Arts Training Excellence (ARTS8), and partially funded by the Australian Government through the Office for the Arts.
From 2012, ANAM offered a master's degree delivered in collaboration with Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, along with fellowship and short course opportunities.