{"id":37053,"date":"2025-12-10T13:31:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/?p=37053"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:27:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T23:27:48","slug":"looking-back-on-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection – 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year has been full of twists and turns. Change is happening faster and with less certainty, especially for those of us in adult learning and community education. But despite everything, we\u2019ve kept adapting, finding new ways to make a difference and add real value for our educators, learners and communities.<\/p>\n

A big thank you to our members, partners and supporters in the sector for everything you\u2019ve contributed along the way, we couldn\u2019t do this without you.<\/p>\n

Below are some highlights of our achievements this year:<\/p>\n

Professional Development<\/h3>\n

ALA delivered 10 professional development webinars during 2025 covering topics such as helping adult learners to improve their writing, intergenerational Aboriginal learning during NAIDOC Week and creative LLN approaches using AI. More than 1,200 people registered for these webinars.<\/p>\n

ALA members can access these and other past recordings here<\/a>. We are already organising our first webinars for 2026, and members and non-members can register for those here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adult Learners Week \u2013 30 Years \"\"<\/h3>\n

This year marked 30 years of Adult Learners Week<\/a> in Australia, a UNESCO initiative funded by the Australian government. We launched the Week with our partners in Devonport, supported by Libraries Tasmania and local learning organisations, under the theme Celebrate Learning Together<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The focus on regional and rural communities highlighted the breadth and diversity of learning across Australia. It gave us a chance to put a spotlight on some of our fantastic adult learners, events and activities. Watch<\/a> our highlights video.<\/p>\n

Publications<\/h3>\n

We published three editions of Quest<\/em><\/a> magazine, showcasing Adult Learners Week,\u00a0 innovation in literacy and numeracy, sector developments and member news. Three issues of AJAL<\/em><\/a> were also released, with new co-editors, Piper Rodd and Cheryl Ryan taking over mid-year from Trace Ollis. Rob Townsend and Jeffrey Bryant Jones oversaw our special edition on creative pedagogies, and we will bring you a special webinar on this topic in March 2026.<\/p>\n

International Representation<\/h3>\n

In October 2025, ALA was the sole Australian civil society representative endorsed by the Australian Government to attend the UNESCO\/UIL GRALE 6 capacity-building workshop<\/a> in Shanghai. With delegates from across the Asia\u2013Pacific, the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education(GRALE)\u00a0 workshop strengthened understanding of the GRALE 6 survey<\/a> and promoted consistent reporting standards.<\/p>\n

ALA is now working with the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to ensure Australia\u2019s national reporting aligns with global expectations and reflects community-based adult learning.<\/p>\n

Advocacy and Government Engagement<\/h3>\n

During this year, we met with Andrew Giles, Minister for Skills and Training, Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Social Services and Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Social Services and other federal and state government representatives. We released multiple media statements, wrote to a range of Ministers, and participated in key advisory committees including the Foundation Skills Study Steering Committee, ASQA groups and the Reading Writing Hotline.<\/p>\n

I was also pleased to contribute to the judging of the 2025 Australian Training Awards in one of their key categories, and to support successful advocacy for the North Melbourne Language and Learning Centre. Working with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and ACEVIC, we were able to help secure a safe relocation for the Centre prior to the North Melbourne public housing tower (where it was located for many years) being demolished.<\/p>\n

Projects and Sector Support<\/h3>\n

ALA managed several Victorian Government projects in collaboration with state peaks, focusing on digital literacy, professional development and sector capacity building. We secured Cyber Security project funding from the Department of Home Affairs and continued to provide administrative and financial support to smaller adult education organisations which rely on our infrastructure to run their operations.<\/p>\n

Learning Changes Lives (LCL) Foundation<\/h3>\n

Through our charitable arm, the LCL Foundation, we awarded 6 x $500 scholarships during Adult Learners Week and funded a digital literacy program for Aboriginal learners at Tauondi Aboriginal College in South Australia. You can read about these at the LCL website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

65 Year Celebrations \"\"<\/h3>\n

Finally, 2025 was a special year, as we celebrated ALA\u2019s 65th anniversary. Across the year, we invited people to send 65 celebratory messages recognising ALA and the adult and community education sector. These were shared across our social media and in Quest and have now been collated as a record<\/a> of ALA and our sector in 2025. You can read my reflections<\/a> on the milestone in the Special Edition of AJAL, which celebrated its 65th<\/sup> anniversary this year.<\/p>\n

Acknowledgements<\/h3>\n

I want to thank our Board, especially our Executive: President Kathleen Priestley, Vice-President John Sheen, Treasurer Ron Wilson and Secretary Isabel Osuna-Gatty for their leadership throughout the year. My thanks also to AJAL<\/em> editors Trace Ollis (who finished part-way through the year), Piper Rodd and Cheryl Ryan.<\/p>\n

We acknowledge and thank our Federal and State Government funding bodies for their support: the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Jobs, Skills Industry and Regions (Victoria).<\/p>\n

I would also like to thank and acknowledge our hardworking staff team – Tracey, Sharmy, Sophie, Henrik, Natalie and Wendy – all part-time, whose commitment has kept everything moving forward. We are sad to farewell two of our team members, Sophie Arnold (Communications Coordinator) and Natalie Corrigan (Membership and Engagement Officer). We thank them sincerely for their contribution and wish them every success in their future endeavours.<\/p>\n

Jenny Macaffer<\/p>\n

Adult Learning Australia<\/p>\n

CEO<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year has been full of twists and turns. Change is happening faster and with less certainty, especially for those of us in adult learning and community education. But despite everything, we\u2019ve kept adapting, finding new ways to make a difference and add real value for our educators, learners and communities. A big thank you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":854,"featured_media":36901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This year has been full of twists and turns. Change is happening faster and with less certainty, especially for those of us in adult learning and community education. But despite everything, we\u2019ve kept adapting, finding new ways to make a difference and add real value for our educators, learners and communities. A big thank you […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Adult Learning Australia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"526\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"526\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Henrik Steenberg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Henrik Steenberg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Henrik Steenberg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cadc002c2225219dc4fbec09c4c9ebcf\"},\"headline\":\"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection – 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":877,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/65-years.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/\",\"name\":\"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/65-years.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/65-years.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/65-years.jpg\",\"width\":526,\"height\":526},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/looking-back-on-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection – 2025\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"Adult Learning Australia\",\"description\":\"Adult Learning Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Adult Learning Australia\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/ALA-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/ALA-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":501,\"height\":269,\"caption\":\"Adult Learning Australia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cadc002c2225219dc4fbec09c4c9ebcf\",\"name\":\"Henrik Steenberg\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ala.asn.au\\\/author\\\/hsteenberg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia","og_description":"This year has been full of twists and turns. Change is happening faster and with less certainty, especially for those of us in adult learning and community education. But despite everything, we\u2019ve kept adapting, finding new ways to make a difference and add real value for our educators, learners and communities. A big thank you […]","og_url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/","og_site_name":"Adult Learning Australia","article_published_time":"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":526,"height":526,"url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Henrik Steenberg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Henrik Steenberg","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/"},"author":{"name":"Henrik Steenberg","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#\/schema\/person\/cadc002c2225219dc4fbec09c4c9ebcf"},"headline":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection – 2025","datePublished":"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/"},"wordCount":877,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/","url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/","name":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection - 2025 - Adult Learning Australia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-10T02:31:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-18T23:27:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/65-years.jpg","width":526,"height":526},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/looking-back-on-2025\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CEO\u2019s Annual Reflection – 2025"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/","name":"Adult Learning Australia","description":"Adult Learning Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#organization","name":"Adult Learning Australia","url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ALA-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ALA-LOGO.jpg","width":501,"height":269,"caption":"Adult Learning Australia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/#\/schema\/person\/cadc002c2225219dc4fbec09c4c9ebcf","name":"Henrik Steenberg","sameAs":["http:\/\/ala.asn.au"],"url":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/author\/hsteenberg\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/854"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37053"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37087,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37053\/revisions\/37087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ala.asn.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}