More than 1 in 3 Australian adults are functionally illiterate. How can we fix this? (theconversation.com)

submitted 1 week ago by arbilp3@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone

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Australians spend more money per capita on education than most comparable nations. We should have high levels of literacy – but we don’t.

NAPLAN results indicate one in three primary and secondary students do not meet basic national standards in reading and writing. The picture is likely worse for adults.

The most recent data we have is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2013 survey assessing adult competencies. It found 44% of Australian adults have literacy skills below the “necessary proficiency level for navigating modern work and life”. In other words, they were functionally illiterate.

If we assume 44% Australians adults are still functionally illiterate, this means around 9.4 million people lack the skills needed to meet “the demands of everyday life and work in a complex, advanced society”. This is a national disgrace for such a wealthy country.

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[-] MalReynolds@slrpnk.net 12 points 1 week ago

Stop wasting money on private schools and it'll go down, eventually. Move some of that money to adult literacy education and it'll go down faster. But most of politics wants it, and there's no votes there.

this post was submitted on 07 May 2026

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