Imagine trying to get through life without being able to read and write. Most people would rarely give a thought to how challenging life might be without these basic skills, but for an unacceptably large percentage of Australia’s Indigenous population, this is a reality.
Imagine not being able to drive a car because you can’t sit for the driver’s test, imagine not being able to use an ATM or apply for a job because you can’t fill out a form, or worse yet, imagine you can’t read the instructions on a medicine bottle to give your child the correct dosage.
It’s a staggering thought but this is what the future looks like for the 4 out of 5 Indigenous children in remote regions of Australia who can’t read or write.
The reasons behind this statistic are many and often complex. Many children suffer hearing problems, English is often spoken as a second language, and reading a book before bedtime isn’t always a cultural norm.
Mary-Ruth Mendel and I started the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation charity 12 years ago after Mary-Ruth’s work as one of Australia’s leading Speech Pathologists was featured on a popular news program. In the week following we received 1000s of calls from parents, schools, the unemployed and the disadvantaged desperate for help. It was an experience I will never forget. It may sound naïve but I was never conscious of the extent of literacy problems in a country such as ours, and the effects not being able to read had on so many people’s lives.
However, there is some good news in that we can all do something very simple to help. The Wall of Hands Appeal is The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation’s (ALNF) annual fundraising and awareness campaign.
This November all Australians have the chance to raise their hands in support of Indigenous Literacy by donating as little as $5 to the online Wall of Hands – www.wallofhands.com.au . Together we will work towards achieving 100% literacy rates among Indigenous children in Australia.
Top Comments
great post. i don't remember learning to read but i am experiencing the process with my children. it is hard work and i cannot imagine doing it without good literacy skills myself. so much of what the kids learn happens at home, reading every night and other things, so if we can help one generation it is going to make a difference for years to come.
awesome work, keep it up!
Thank you MM team for this article.
Just last month, I revisited chronic disease management for Indigenous Aussies and was reminded again how incredibly badly they lag behind other Aussies in health terms. They are three to twelve times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than the rest of us, depending on where they live. Before white settlement, they were incredibly healthy as a group, much healthier than the white settlers who came here.
One of the problems is getting enough Aboriginal Health Workers to work within the Indigenous health culture and one of the causes of this is poor literacy skills preventing them from training in health. Not to mention that the recommendations of the National Aboriginal Health Strategy from 1989 (yes! 1989) have never been implemented by federal governments.
Along with asylum seekers, Indigenous Aussies receive no observance of their health rights by our government and only organisations like ANLF seem to care and thank God that they do.
Best article on MM today so thank you again :)