Kelly-ann Tansey, CEO, Zahra Foundation

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is Accelerate Action. 

At Zahra Foundation, we witness a harsh reality every day: many of the women who walk through our doors never had the chance to complete their education or develop foundational skills due to the impacts of intergenerational domestic and family violence. For others, years of coercive control, financial abuse, and the long-term effects of domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) have stripped away their confidence and eroded their skills. 

At the current rate of progress, full gender equality won’t be achieved until 2158—five generations from now. This is unacceptable. If we are serious about change, we must Accelerate Action where it matters most: ensuring women have access to education, skills, and financial independence so they are never forced to return to violence due to poverty or homelessness. 

For nearly nine years, Zahra Foundation Australia has been delivering Adult Community Education programs to support women recovering from DFSV. Last year alone, more than 150 South Australian women participated, gaining the skills, confidence, and opportunities needed to pursue further education, employment, or entrepreneurship. 

This is why adult education must be recognised as a critical pillar in recovery. Education is more than literacy and numeracy—it is a pathway to autonomy, stability, and self-sufficiency. The Pathways to Empowerment program, funded by the South Australian Government under Adult Community Education, is a pioneering initiative for women impacted by DFSV. It helps them rebuild their lives by strengthening foundational skills, unlocking new opportunities, and providing formal recognition of their capabilities. 

Women in this program are not just learning—they are reclaiming their right to financial security and independence. Many describe it as a turning point, where they no longer feel trapped in a cycle of violence or control. With education, they no longer must choose between abuse and poverty—they gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to shape their futures. 

 The impact is life changing. Women like Anna (name changed for privacy) arrived at Zahra Foundation after fleeing an abusive relationship, determined to improve her English and numeracy skills so she could start her own business. Twelve months later, Anna now owns a food truck, sells sweet treats in her community, and has secured a stable income for herself and her son. 

Stories like Anna’s prove that adult education is not just about learning—it is about survival, independence, and breaking the cycle of abuse. When women have access to supportive learning environments, they don’t just survive—they thrive. 

For too long, adult education has been overlooked as a key solution to ending gendered violence. Pathways to Empowerment proves that education leads to financial independence, and financial independence leads to lasting safety. 

If we are serious about Accelerating Action for gender equality, we must invest in programs that empower women through learning. The future we are fighting for will not be won by words alone—it will be built through education, skills, and economic opportunity. The time to act is now. 

#AccelerateAction #IWD2025 #AdultEducation #EconomicEmpowerment #ZahraFoundation 

Bio  

Zahra Foundation Australia – 10 Years of Impact 

Founded in response to the tragic murder of Zahra Abrahimzadeh, Zahra Foundation Australia has spent the past 10 years empowering women affected by domestic and family violence to rebuild their lives through economic independence and financial resilience. 

As a national leader in this space, Zahra Foundation provides specialist programs, financial counselling, and pathways to education and employment, ensuring women have the tools to break free from violence and achieve long-term stability. 

Under the leadership of CEO Kelly-ann Tansley, the Foundation has secured multi-year investments, expanded evidence-based programs, and influenced policy and legislative reform, including the criminalisation of coercive control. With deep expertise in governance, stakeholder engagement, and for-purpose leadership, Kelly-ann ensures Zahra’s work is driven by lived experience, data, and sustainable impact strategies. 

Together, Zahra Foundation and its partners are working towards a future where all women are economically empowered and safe. 

 March 2025 

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Looking back to when I first started volunteering as an adult literacy tutor, I realise I had a narrow view of my role, and as a result, an equally narrow view of adult learners.

My focus was primarily on literacy methods, educational activities, and the learner’s goals and outcomes.  I was delivering community-based adult education in a social practice model but my understanding of what ‘community’ and ‘social practice’ might encompass from an adult learner’s perspective was limited to my siloed delivery of an educational service.

Over time, thanks to the insights provided by my adult learners, I began to see the potential for a broader scope of literacy services and the complex role of psychology and sociology in adult education.  When I travelled for a Churchill Fellowship in 2024 to study literacy education methods that help adults reduce psychological barriers to learning, I had my sights on both the technical improvements we could make in Australia and on the contexts of literacy program delivery.

In Aotearoa New Zealand it was inspiring to see adult educators effectively incorporate a Māori wellbeing model into the learner-intake process.  It prompts awareness and exploration of four cornerstones of wellbeing – physical; family and social; mental and emotional; and spiritual – so learners can reflect on their current situation and aspirations.  This recognises the integrated nature of learning and how each cornerstone has the potential to influence a learner’s personal readiness and capacity to learn.

You may have noticed, as I have, the effectiveness of an adult literacy program is correlated to the degree of personal readiness in a learner.  Adult learners (and tutors) have complicated and sometimes tumultuous lives.  They bring to every session the emotions of their past experiences, the stress and joys of current happenings, and the hopes and fears of unknown futures.

If distracted by financial worries, family health problems, or food or housing insecurity there is understandably less motivation and capacity for adults to focus on higher level, cognitive needs including effective learning.  This is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in action.

My once narrow view of literacy tutoring would have consigned all those influences to the responsibility of ‘other’.  As tutors, it’s essential we maintain healthy boundaries, practice self-care and not take on a role of superhero saviours.   But lifting our gaze to a broader, holistic view of the learner and how adult education is one of many inter-related social services within that learner’s community reveals the possibility for different, less-siloed approaches.

My Fellowship study showed that tutors can be equipped with an understanding of the range of support services available to learners in their community.  This could be in the form of a physical or digital directory; a procedure to refer learners for additional assistance via a tutor manager or advisor; or community-based referral networks such as Tasmania’s The Right Place program.

When community referral networks communicated as a ‘web’ rather than in a single direction, this also grew the effectiveness of literacy education.  Outbound referrals were assisting a learner’s personal readiness.  At the same time, adult literacy programs were receiving ‘warm’ inbound referrals where adults with unmet literacy needs were introduced by known and trusted people.

Adult community education acknowledges the role personal readiness plays in delivering successful adult literacy outcomes when it includes foundation skills in literacy programs.  Examples include interpersonal communication, problem solving, emotional regulation, and time management delivered ‘in-house’ or with external, service provider partners.  The scope and definition of adult literacy programs are changing.

With these changes comes a necessary shift in tutor training.  It’s more common in educational settings to now find Accidental Counsellor training.  Overseas and at home, training in trauma sensitivity, psychological first aid, and mental health and wellness are also now being delivered for adult literacy tutors, where such skills and knowledge were once considered outside their domain.

Adult educators work in an interesting field where the physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing of our learners directly impacts the effectiveness of our practices.  Seeing beyond our educational responsibilities to a more holistic view of a learner makes our role more complex and challenging, but with appropriate support, networks, and training it can also make the learning experience more effective, efficient and enjoyable.

Bio

Amanda Wilson is a volunteer adult literacy tutor in Lutruwita Northwest Tasmania. In 2024 she published the Gallaugher Bequest Churchill Fellowship report on literacy education methods that help reduce psychological barriers to learning.  Read the report and findings here.

The post That’s not my role…. or is it? appeared first on Adult Learning Australia.

Language, culture, identity, and learning go hand in hand; one cannot do without the other. They are embedded and intertwined tightly together. Therefore, it is imperative that educators seriously consider the social, cultural, and linguistic repertoire of their students, be they young children, or secondary, or tertiary education students.

Teaching from a strengths-based approach considers the student’s rich cultural and linguistic heritage and knowledge system. Educators must recognise this rich heritage to build on students’ foundational knowledge base and develop curriculum, content, and activities to enable students to draw on their social, cultural, and linguistic repertoire. This way of teaching and learning also brings a sense of pride, confidence, and capability from the students’ cultural perspectives and positions. This pedagogical approach is important regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners’ mental health and social well-being.

‘Slipping and sliding’ is a term that has emerged from a conversation during an Aboriginal staff Kapati (cup of tea) as part of my PhD research study, which focused on the topic, ‘Aboriginal English as a social, cultural, and linguistic marker in Indigenous Tertiary Education.’ Slipping and sliding are terms coined by an experienced Aboriginal lecturer reflecting on her extensive teaching experience in the common units – ‘Public Communication’ and ‘Telling Histories’ (compulsory Higher Education units previously offered at Batchelor Institute).

This descriptive explanation of “slipping and sliding” captured an image of continuous fluidity, flexibility, and movement, which often comes into play when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people come together, whether in a tertiary setting or everyday social life. One could argue that this moving to and fro between linguistic codes, and cultural, and social domains happens in all socio-cultural contexts; however, I believe the difference here is that it is uncommon in mainstream tertiary educational learning environments for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to experience this. As Malcolm (2014) states, “when Aboriginal English (AE) speakers enter an education system based on Standard Australian English (SAE), there is an assumed priority given to the dialect which does not have their primary identification” (p. 2). In other words, SAE is usually given priority and higher status and recognition than AE even though AE is “spoken throughout Australia, as either the first or second language of the great majority of Aboriginal people” (Eades, 1993, p.2).

Slipping and sliding in my PhD study looks beyond the spoken language to understand how language is used to move in and out of social, cultural, and linguistic spaces. The slipping and sliding concept is similar to the relatively new social linguistic concept ‘translanguaging,’ introduced by Garcia and Li Wei (2014), which also focuses on how multilingual speakers move in and out of language/dialectal varieties within the intercultural spaces by drawing on their socio-linguistic and cultural repertoire. Garcia and Li Wei (2014) state that: “…

“…translanguaging differs from the notion of code-switching in that it refers not simply to a shift or a shuttle between two languages, but to the speakers’ construction and use of original and complex interrelated discursive practices that cannot be easily assigned to one or another traditional definition of a language, but that make up the speakers’ complete language repertoire” (Garcia & Li Wei, 2014, p. 22).

The use of Aboriginal English or Indigenous students’ first languages, such as Kriols or heritage languages, is instrumental in teaching in a meaningful and accessible approach. It is about presenting educational content to Indigenous learners in an understandable and relevant way to ensure they are receiving the same quality education as all students. This teaching practice enables students not only to comprehend and dissect educational content but also to challenge, voice their opinions, and critique Western academic standpoints, thereby disrupting entrenched educational norms, processes, and practices.

The world we live in is culturally diverse and multicultural, and teaching from a dominantly Western academic perspective supports the notion of excluding and disempowering minority and Indigenous Australian people and their ways of seeing, knowing, and being. Teaching from a strengths-based approach is about empowering and equipping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students with the knowledge, skills, and conceptual understanding that are critical for them to slip and slide into the multi-worlds of Aboriginal and mainstream Australia. These are the local, national, and global spaces that we all navigate, engage, and interact with on a daily basis.

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Practice engagement theory (PET) holds that adult literacy and numeracy proficiency develops as a result of engaging in everyday reading, writing and maths practices. Reciprocally, an adult’s proficiency affects their engagement in everyday literacy and numeracy practices.

PET, along with a growing body of longitudinal research, confirms that literacy and numeracy interventions that increase engagement in meaningful everyday practices builds proficiency over time.

Most research on adult literacy and numeracy development looks at short-term changes within a single context — the adult education classroom. These studies typically look at changes in proficiency over the relatively short periods of time in which they participate in adult education classes. Most studies use short follow-ups of program participants, making it difficult to see patterns of program participation or to assess the long-term impact.

Research that examines adult literacy and numeracy development taking place across multiple contexts both in and outside a classroom and over significant periods of time provides a life-wide and lifelong perspective.

Rather than continuing with a “parking lot” conception of adult education where what matters is how long students are retained (“parked”) in the program — we need a “busy intersection” model where what counts is not how long students spend in the intersection but the direction they take and how far they go after they leave. Students come to the program or intersection from different directions and depart toward different destinations. The program helps them choose the best path beyond the classroom and provides resources and supports for them to persist as lifelong learners and reach their destinations.

Participating in everyday reading, writing and maths improves social and economic wellbeing but we need research to better understand this. Using nationally representative survey data from Australia, we can examine the effects of engaging in everyday reading, writing and maths practices on earnings, health, social trust, political efficacy and civic participation. Practice engagement has statistically significant and substantial positive effects on each of these outcomes, and therefore important implications for policy and practice in adult education and future research on its role in overall wellbeing.

These findings have important implications for adult education policy and programs in Australia. The goals and designs of adult literacy interventions should be formulated in terms of increasing both proficiency in the classroom and practical engagement beyond it.

Research supporting PET suggests that program evaluations should measure shorter-term impacts on practice engagement and longer-term impacts on literacy and numeracy proficiency. This framework may help policymakers recognise the complex nature of skill development in formulating their policy and funding priorities. With growing evidence of practice engagement’s broad impact on social and economic outcomes, interventions that foster increased engagement in everyday literacy and numeracy practices should be at the center of collective impact approaches to wellbeing.

This would position adult education as a key source of lifelong and life-wide learning.

Bio

Dr. Stephen Reder is Professor Emeritus of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University. He has an A.B. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the Rockefeller University in New York City. His career has involved research, teaching and service activities in education, workplace and community settings. Dr. Reder’s research focuses on adults’ literacy, numeracy, digital literacy and second language development.  He has developed Practice Engagement Theory that helps us understand how adults’ use of skills in everyday life affects their lifelong and life-wide learning, their social and economic outcomes, and their overall wellbeing. He serves on the advisory boards of numerous organizations and journals and works with adult education researchers, practitioners and policymakers at the local, state, national and international levels.

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Dr Nigel Wilson is a current Board member of Adult Learning Australia and its Learning Changes Lives Foundation.

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. … Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

Eleanor Roosevelt, in 1958 on the 10^th anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration)

The Universal Declaration proclaims the inalienable rights that all humans are entitled to, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Australia is a party to seven core international human rights treaties.  Education as a human right is central both to the Universal Declaration and the 1966 International Convention of Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (ICESCR) (ratified by Australia in 1975 and entering into force in 1976):

“the right of everyone to education. .. education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. .. education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.”

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration, Article 13 of the ICESR.

Importantly and particularly at this time, education, freedom, human rights and the maintenance of peace are fundamental human rights.  However, the challenges to promote, protect and enhance human rights are immense and ongoing. Despite developments in knowledge, technology and human achievement, illiteracy among adults internationally remains “stubbornly high” at over 770 million people, with women making up almost two-thirds of this number. (UNESCO)  In addition, the United Nations has observed that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing education disparities by reducing the opportunities for many of the most vulnerable children, youth, and adults – those living in poor or rural areas, girls, refugees, persons with disabilities and forcibly displaced persons – to continue their learning. Accordingly, in 2020 the United Nations made an urgent call to reimagine education and to accelerate change in teaching and learning, in order to prevent “a learning crisis from becoming a generational catastrophe”. (United Nations, Education During COVID-19, 2020).

To improve literacy levels and meet the challenges of the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, adult education is a key driver for change – globally and locally. In doing so, teachers require positive motivation and a sustained commitment to lifelong learning as change agents:

“I chose to be a teacher because I believe that education has the power to transform the society we live in. What motivates me to be a good teacher is to be an active agent in this change that is so necessary for my country, to fight against discrimination, injustice, racism, corruption and poverty. Our responsibility as teachers is enormous, and our commitment to provide quality education must be renewed every day.”

Ana, a teacher, Peru, UNESCO Report, 2014

Human rights protections are also seen as supporting freedom and democracy as:

“a countervailing force to the exercise of totalitarian, bureaucratic and institutional power – widely identified as the greatest threats to the liberty of the individual and democratic freedom in this century.”

Former Australian Chief Justice Mason, Australian Bar Review, 1989

For over 62 years, Adult Learning Australia (ALA) has been committed to its vision – Lifelong learning for a fairer Australia.  ALA’s broad policy agenda includes a Lifelong Learning Policy which supports a coordinated national policy as an essential feature of a healthy, active democracy in Australia.  The mission of ALA’s Learning Changes Lives Foundation, and its grants program for both individuals and projects, is based upon access to adult education as a human right.

Internationally and in Australia, we are approaching the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration.  Human rights are not static and continue to evolve. In 2020 UNESCO called for the recognition of lifelong learning as a new human right with three imperatives:

1. 1. Access to learning: always, across countries and languages.
   2. Resilience: an educational commons that can withstand different crises: ecological, economic, epidemiological and political.
   3. Transparency: learning resources and facilities, including software and technology, must be open and part of the public domain.

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, 2020

Adult education has the capacity to provide an environment for lifelong growth, change and freedom.  Human rights can also be both a catalyst for change and a powerful force in the protection of freedoms and democracy.

In small places and close to home, let us renew our commitment to adult education every day and continue to uphold and advance human rights, including for lifelong learning, for all within the Australian community and internationally.

Dr Nigel Wilson, Australis Chambers, has thirty years of experience in adult education, law, regulation and human rights and is the international, award-winning author of Teaching Professionals (Archway Publishing). More information here.

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Ged Kearney MP – Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care

The benefits provided by the discrete fourth sector of education in Australia – adult and community education (ACE), are visible all around us. They highlight the positive impacts on society when no one is left behind.

An education sector that is flexible enough to meet everyone’s needs is vital if we are serious about lifting people out of poverty and providing them with the opportunity to be their best selves. Delivering life skills and vocational education to people in local settings that are familiar and easy to access, is part of the flexible arrangements offered by ACE programs.

For instance, teenage mums constitute a cohort of most disadvantaged people – those who can remain isolated and entrenched in a cycle of poverty.  From the time children are born they are learning – and naturally rely on their primary carer, most often the mother.  Their children may escape a cycle of poverty through education, but without supported education provided by the ACE sector, the mums will not.

We can choose as a society to provide innovative support for teenage mums and their children, giving access to greater choices and opportunities, or we can choose to ignore those who are disadvantaged by circumstance. We must reach out and provide education in a flexible and familiar environment to ensure we reach the disenfranchised.

It is also important to recognise and provide for different ways of learning and learning abilities. In my own family, I have witnessed the miracle of life skills education. My sister Hon has an intellectual disability. We worried she would never be independent or able to leave the family home. Thanks to education provided largely through familiar environments like Neighbourhood Houses, Hon has many friends, leads a full life with confidence in her ability to travel as she needs. This provides enormous relief, and I might say, happiness, for families and loved ones. No one needs to be left behind.

At the other end of the spectrum is our ageing population with an increased lifespan and growing isolation. For older people, lifelong education provides an opportunity for social inclusion and active minds – Important ingredients to reduce the risk of loneliness and sustain good mental health. Learning for the sake of learning, for self-improvement and for friendship are worthy endeavours, which help sustain an engaged and healthy society.

Education has always been a key plank of the Labor Party’s vision for a healthy society and a healthy economy. I am so proud that we have committed to rebuilding TAFE and vocational education, we will build innovative STEM and STEAM centres and importantly, we recognise the vital role the ACE sector plays in a suite of educational opportunities, which leaves no one behind.

Ms Kearney was a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training until 11 April 2022 which released the ‘Don’t take it as read’ report findings from the Inquiry into adult literacy and its importance. You can read Ms Kearney’s previous 2018 commentary here.

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Dr Ron Wilson is a current Board member of Adult Learning Australia and past President of the Australasian Corrections Education Association.

I have spent almost 50 years involved with education in maximum security prisons and liaising with others working in similar fields across Australasia, North America, and UK.

My experience includes teaching in prison classrooms; managing education and training delivery; framing, communicating and implementing policies; managing educational organisations and undertaking research. These experiences have helped me gain a deeper appreciation of the ways our community works.

As C Wright Mills argued in Sociological Imagination, examining the challenges faced in individuals’ lives provides us greater insights into much wider public issues. As an educator, I don’t believe you could find a more marginalised environment to provide a wealth of such stories than prisons.

The relationship between prison and prisoner management and adult education goes back to the industrial revolution. Michel Foucault observed that the birth of schools coincided with the emergence of prisons. He argued this is the reason there are so many features in architectural design and personnel management approaches common in both institutions even today (Discipline and Punish,1975)!   It is the historical relationship between educational leadership and penological reforms that set Australia apart from other western world jurisdictions for many years.

There were two significant reformers worthy of note. One shaped the ways prisoners were managed, not only in Australia but throughout the UK whereas the other build the cornerstone relationship between prison management and education. Both reformers were not recognised in their times, but their legacies are enduring.

Alexander Maconochie, in charge of Norfolk Island penal settlement in the 1840s, moved prisoner management practice from brutal punitive approaches to supporting detainees toward release through recognition for the work they did and the ways they supported one another in the workplace to gain skills. Maconachie’s reforms influenced practices in Ireland, UK and USA long after Australia returned to a more punitive approach.

In a similar perspective, in 1924 Joseph Akeroyd assumed the role of Inspector General of Victoria’s very punitive penal system. A teacher immediately before becoming Inspector General, Akeroyd held this role for almost 24 years until retiring in 1947 becoming the longest serving Inspector General in Australia’s history. Interestingly, the next two Inspector Generals (or equivalent roles) were also educationalists. Hence the period between 1924 and the mid-1970s witnessed a most unique arrangement of educational leadership and prison management. Akeroyd’s actions were at the heart of this relationship.

Akeroyd based his reform agenda on his principles of education and teaching, and this resulted in the normalisation of formal education for prisoners and prison staff.
His educational influence and inquiring mind explored the relationship between the nature and causes of crime and criminality and the role of education to redress and address an individual’s behaviour.

The links between an individual’s social development, intellectual capabilities, skill capabilities, and social opportunities meant that Akeroyd called on the worlds of education and psychology to assist him, support prisoners. He introduced the establishment of case studies built around the academic and vocational capabilities and aspirations of the prisoners to map individual sentence plans. He also engaged The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER), connected with Melbourne University to establish the world’s first formal Centre for Criminology, Melbourne Teacher’s College to assist in the education of aspiring teachers, and Melbourne radio stations to raise community awareness of nature of crime and criminality debates. As an outcome, uniquely to the rest of the world, each Victorian prison and youth justice facility became a registered school, staffed and resourced through Victoria’s education department. In 1989, the responsibility for education then transferred from schools to the adult learning sector where each prison became a campus of a TAFE institute (Wilson, 2014).

Akeroyd’s journey was not easy. He faced many challenges and conflicts whilst implementing his reforms – many of which were realised after his retirement. Many of these challenges clashed with his values and principles. Having to oversee capital and corporal punishments was at odds with his commitment to institute a treatment-based environment.

In the course of writing a biography of Akeroyd, I found that the strategies he used in the face of powerful opposition from political and judicial forces, as well as historical custodial officer culture, offer inspiration to all of us teaching in prison settings today.

Akeroyd realised the importance of providing a balanced education to prisoners which facilitated learning, developed life skills for living in a community setting, built vocational skills and build language and literacy capabilities, and restored human dignity to the most marginalised members of our society.

You can read more about Joseph Akeroyd’s achievements and challenges at Joseph Akeroyd: rediscovering a prison reformer (authorronwilson.com)  or Publications – Diosma Consultancy

Ron has received an Australia Day honour and public service award for introducing VET to the Victorian prison system. One of his past roles was deputy chair of the Victorian Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board. 

The post Adult education and prisons appeared first on Adult Learning Australia.

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
Angela Davis

How do we, adult educators, scholars, activists, play, engage, inhabit ‘climate justice’ – its theory and practice? What roles can we play to mitigate and adapt to the dramatic, anticipated environmental changes? It’s a vast, complex landscape that requires collective insights, imagination, and action. Solving the climate crisis affects all aspects of society. Therefore, our own education as educators, scholars and activists is essential.

Many regions of the world are already in a climate emergency. Droughts, floods, heatwaves, fires, increasing desertification, food insecurity have already arrived and environmental conditions are only going to get worse. The global meeting on climate change, COP26 begins in Glasgow on 31 October 2021. It is being billed as a ‘make or break’ meeting with the Secretary-General of the United Nations stating that humanity is on ‘red alert’. People who have contributed least to environmental degradation will suffer the most. This is a climate justice issue.

COVID-19 and the climate emergency are interconnected. We all have rich experience of the last 18 months that can serve us well, to respond to both future pandemics and the climate crises. COVID as a zoonotic disease illustrates the close relationship between the virus and accelerated climate change. As an environmental thinker and activist Vandana Shiva argues, the emergencies created by the COVID pandemic, planetary extinction, loss of species diversity, and global warming are inseparable.

To overcome COVID-19 and the climate emergency global cooperation and solidarity are needed. How well are we doing on that score? So far, not very well. At the time of writing 60% of people in high-income countries have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but around 2% have done so in low-income countries. The vested interests of the economic elites continue to dominate political decision-making.

As educators how do we respond? In addressing this question, the PIMA international network of adult educators, lifelong learning practitioners, scholars and activists, has just brought out a Special Edition of its Bulletin on Climate Justice and Adult Learning and Education (ALE). It has short informative articles on climate justice and lifelong learning, transformative resilience, ecofeminist popular education, creative teaching and learning approaches, and much more.

For more information contact Shirley Walters, PIMA President pimanetwork@gmail.com

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Readability – How did I get there? And is readability really important?

I have a dual role in adult literacy. My employment as a Senior Researcher in the School of Education at Edith Cowan University has enabled me to consider a range of issues around learning. My role as a volunteer with Read Write Now (RWN) working with adults who seek support for literacy challenges has intersected on several occasions with my role as a researcher. In previous roles I have worked as a VET educator and as an educator within a West Australian prison. I have been involved in adult education for over 20 years.

Accordingly, I was aware of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data that indicated the high proportion (about 44%) of Australian adults with challenges in literacy. If documents are written at a level that is higher than the ability of half the population, there is an equity issue in relation to the distribution of knowledge.

So how did I first get involved in readability – it was the result of a request from a RWN student who sought assistance in understanding their child’s school report. This piqued my interest as the report was full of jargon that even I did not understand and could barely decipher – which raises another issue about literacy and how communication is undertaken by schools.

Then COVID-19 came along and provided an opportunity to investigate how well online written communications were being presented. An investigation of government websites in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA) together with the international World Health Organisation was undertaken. The target ‘readings’ were those that were clearly for the use of the general public rather than health professionals.

The Cambridge Dictionary has described readability as “the quality of being easy and enjoyable to read”. Readability scores are calculated through mathematical formulae and some of the early work in this area was conducted by Rudolph Flesch as early as 1948. His formulae are still well-used today. There are a range of formulae available, but the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) developed by G. Harry McLaughlin in 1969 and Flesch formulae are two of the most commonly used.

Our results on the assessment of the readability indicated that none of the documents assessed were written at a level that was considered accessible. Accessibility for literacy is different across the three jurisdictions with age nine years the standard in the UK, Grade 6 the standard in the USA, and Year 8 in Australia. Our paper which is available at no cost can be viewed at doi:10.1111/1753-6405.13066 or a shorter version at https://theconversation.com/most-government-information-on-covid-19-is-too-hard-for-the-average-australian-to-understand-153878.

These findings have inspired me to continue researching readability – there are so many examples of where readability is important, and I am currently investigating a range of contexts. The main aim of this program of research is to target professionals who write the material, therefore the work is (hopefully) more likely to be published in discipline specific areas rather than in the area of literacy.

And is readability really important?

There are limitations to the usefulness of readability. It is only part of the communication process. In some disciplines, such as Occupational Health and Safety, there is a high tendency to provide support for readers/employees through diagrams and/or pictures. One could argue that in such cases the words used are unimportant. However, there are some situations where pictorial representations may be more difficult to use – and do we want to reduce the literacy level of our community further by moving to pictorial representations as the only part of the communication process?

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Adam Boyton, National Skills Commissioner

Adult Learners’ Week 2021 urges us to ‘change our story’. The National Skills Commission (NSC) is providing new intelligence which could help people do just that by providing insights into the jobs and skills needed for the future.

At the NSC we provide expert advice and national leadership on the Australian labour market and current, emerging and future workforce skills needs. We both create and analyse data to produce insights to support educators, employers and jobseekers to make better decisions.

Our Skills Priority List, released in June, shows where there are occupations in shortage across the country. Our five-year employment projections (to 2025) show which industry sectors and occupations will see the most growth. And our Australian Skills Classification looks at the skills that make up jobs and identifies pathways between jobs.

Skills Priority List

The Skills Priority List was released for the first time in 2021. It provides advice on nearly 800 jobs, identifying those that are in shortage currently and their expected future demand – strong, moderate or soft. The technicians and trade occupational group have the highest proportion of skills shortages nationally (42%), examples of which are chefs, motor mechanics (general) and carpenters.

The next largest group experiencing shortages are professionals (19%) – which includes accountants (general), early childhood teachers and developer programmers.

Other shortages exist in the occupational groups of machinery operators and drivers (17%), managers (12%), and community and personal service workers (8%), such as aged and disabled carers.

Employment projections to 2025

Employment is projected to increase in 17 of the 19 broad industries over the five years to November 2025.

Health Care and Social Assistance is projected to grow the most, followed by Accommodation and Food Services, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and Education and Training.

Together, these four industries are projected to generate over 64% of total employment growth over the five years to November 2025.

That said, future employment growth is not just confined to these areas. Our five-year employment projections show very strong growth for professionals (up by 439,500 or 13.2%) and community and personal service workers (up by 186,400 or 14.6%). This reflects the strong growth expected in the services industries that are the leading employers of workers in these occupational groups.

Together, these two occupational groups are expected to account for more than 60% of total employment growth over the next five years.

At a more detailed level, the jobs projected to have the largest increases in employment are aged and disabled carers, registered nurses and software and applications programmers.

Some occupations are expected to see lower employment growth due to ongoing challenges, such as technological change. Some of these occupations are from the clerical and administrative workers groups, where work is routine and susceptible to automation. These include secretaries, retail managers and personal assistants.

Australian Skills Classification

The NSC is also looking to better understand the skills needed within jobs.

The Australian Skills Classification (ASC) is a new tool which takes 600 jobs and identifies the skills that make up those jobs. These skills fall into three groups:

• core competencies – which every job requires. For example, digital engagement, problem-solving, and communicating with one another.
• technology tools that are used in a job.
• specialist tasks describe the day to day work within a job.

Skills that are like one another are clustered together. The ASC groups 1925 specialist skills into 279 skills clusters. These are in turn grouped into 29 skills cluster families. So it’s possible that if someone can do one type of skill in a cluster, they can likely do the others. This offers a way of looking at skills that are transferable between jobs.

Our five-year employment projections tell us that aged and disabled carers will see the most jobs growth. But our skills cluster-based analysis shows that the largest increases in hours worked will be:

• Undertake food service activities (reflecting in part a bounce-back from still depressed levels on account of the pandemic)
• Communicate and collaborate
• Provide customer service and communicate information

The skills clusters with the fastest growth are likely to be:

• Test computer or software performance
• Resolve computer application or system issues
• Develop or administer testing routines or procedures

If we take the skill of ‘communication and collaboration’, based on our projections, it is expected to see both rapid growth in percentage terms and number of hours. That in turn reflects the widespread importance of these skills in a range of occupations into the future. Being armed with this knowledge might assist us to ‘change our story’ as we continue to apply lifelong learning to our journeys.

To learn more about the work of the National Skills Commission, visit nationalskillscommission.gov.au

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