Australia Reads Initiative Engages Parliament to Combat Declining Reading Rates
Australia Reads, a non-profit initiative of the Australian books industry, recently co-hosted an event in Canberra to address the decline in reading rates. The event brought together members of local government, including MPs and Senators, with publishers, booksellers, librarians, and authors. The primary goal was to highlight the coordinated effort needed to champion reading in Australia and internationally. This initiative comes at a critical time, as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Programme for International Student Assessment (OECD PISA) recently reported a global decline in reading rates, with Australian teenagers' reading levels at an all-time low. The event led to the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of Books and Reading, an advocacy group within the government dedicated to promoting reading. Key parliamentary advocates, Dr. Carina Garland MP and Senator David Pocock, co-chaired the event, which also featured leading Australian authors. The positive response from at...
