• Charles Sturt academics are calling on Australians to become adult literacy allies this Adult Learners Week, ditching deficit language and backing calls for stable, ongoing funding for the sector
• 44 per cent of Australian adults have literacy or numeracy gaps that affect everyday life, and new national data due late-2026 will show whether that has changed

Charles Sturt University academics are asking Australians to consider how they can support the adults around them who are building their literacy, numeracy and digital skills.

The last time Australia took part in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies in 2011–12, 44 per cent of adults were found to have literacy or numeracy skills below the level needed to comfortably manage everyday tasks.

This can affect anything from reading a medicine label to following a recipe.

These figures are about to get updated as the federal government prepares to release the key findings of the Understanding Skills Across Australia survey later this year.

But Charles Sturt adult literacy educators say the numbers, while important for funding and planning, only tell half the story.

Associate Lecturer in Adult Vocational Education with Charles Sturt’s School of Education and Australian Council for Adult Literacy (ACAL) President Ms Joanne Medlin said literacy gaps are rarely about ability.

She said more often they are the legacy of interrupted schooling, chronic ill health, moving between schools as a child, or trauma.

“That’s why the sector talks about ‘literacies’, plural, rather than a literate/illiterate divide. Everyone has a different mix of strengths and gaps, and those can shift across a lifetime,” Ms Medlin said.

“Many of the adults we work with have carried a sense of shame about their reading or writing for decades and it’s almost never about intelligence. It’s about what happened to their schooling, health or circumstances.

“Being an ally starts with our language. If we keep describing people by what they can’t do, we make it harder for them to ask for help.”

Adult Learners Week is held from Tuesday 1 to Tuesday 8 September this year with the theme ‘Follow Your Compass: Learning for Life’. Charles Sturt academics want more people to be aware of the resources available in this sector.

Course Director with Charles Sturt’s School of Education Dr Daryl South said progress in this field is never ‘finished’.

“Literacy keeps evolving, especially now digital skills are becoming just as essential as reading and writing,” Dr South said.

“Adult Learners Week is a reminder that learning doesn’t have an age limit. Whether someone’s brushing up on digital skills or building confidence with reading, it’s never too late to start.”

Five ways to be an adult literacy ally:

• Ditch deficit language and avoid words like ‘illiterate’ or ‘low level’
• Make instructions plain using clear, jargon-free English in forms, menus and workplace memos
• Normalise asking for help
• Encourage people to access literacy support at their local TAFEs, adult community education centres, libraries or via national services, such as the Reading Writing Hotline or ACAL
• Support calls for stable, ongoing funding for adult literacy education

Charles Sturt University offers a range of adult and vocational education qualifications that specialise in adult language, literacy and numeracy.