Whether you’re a die-hard bookworm or only read when you really have to, we all know how important literacy is for getting on in life – whether written, visual or auditory.
Literacy supports our employability, our ability to engage in social and community activities, and a whole range of other important life factors.
So, imagine if you were to miss out on some of the foundational building blocks for developing literacy. What kind of impact would that have on your life?
Indigenous Literacy Day seeks to highlight the answers to this question – and provide proactive solutions for communities that need literacy support.
What is Indigenous Literacy Day?
In many remote communities across Australia, there is often no infrastructure such as libraries or bookstores that helps with the accessibility to literature for children and young people in those communities to literature.
When access to a variety of reading materials that address different literacy capabilities is limited, it can impact the achievement and education of young people in those communities. In most instances, these are Indigenous children.
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation was founded by Suzy Wilson, owner of Riverbend Books in Brisbane, to address this.
In 2004, Suzy launched the Riverbend Readers’ Challenge to raise funds to improve literacy outcomes in remote Australia.
Since then, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation has worked with over 400 remote communities, gifted 636,000 books, supplied 83 playgroups with early literacy Book Buzz resources, and published 143 books reflecting 26 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
Indigenous Literacy Day is an opportunity to celebrate the foundation’s work, share stories, culture and language and continue raising awareness for literacy’s role and importance in Indigenous communities.
On the 7th of September – Indigenous Literacy Day – the foundation will hold a short 20-minute online event with a lively group of children in remote Milikapiti and Jilkminggan in the Northern Territory so they can joyfully share their Stories, Cultures and Languages.
Find out more and register here.
3 Ways to Get Involved
The more we learn about the inequalities across our communities, the more we have the power to do something about it.
Making a difference doesn’t have to be huge – there are many small ways to create an impact, show your support and share awareness for these issues.
Here are three ways to show your support and get involved this Indigenous Literacy Day:
1. Hold a Great Book Swap
A great way to support the day is by holding a book swap!
You could get a selection of your friends together, hold one in your neighbourhood or get your whole school involved! There are lots of resources and tips for doing this on the Indigenous Literacy Foundation website, but here are a few pointers:
- Ask everyone to bring along a few books – you could set a limit of simple as everyone to bring as many as they want!
- Advise that taking part is by gold coin donation with proceeds going to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation
- Get everyone together! It could be your school oval, front garden or community hall.
2. Read More Indigenous Books
The Indigenous Literacy Foundation has a fantastic online bookshop filled with books written by remote Community authors and illustrators.
Proceeds go towards supporting the foundation, AND you’ll be growing your own awareness and understanding of our remote and Indigenous communities.
3. Share On Socials
Whether you’re attending the Indigenous Literacy Day online event, holding a book swap, reading Indigenous authors, or just want to help get awareness out there – sharing how you’re getting involved on social media is a great way to keep spreading the good word!
Your own networks might not know about the day, so a little post can help the Indigenous Literacy Foundation gain more followers and support.
Remember to tag @IndigenousLiteracyFoundation on Facebook and Instagram and @IndigenousLF on Twitter.
Explore Our Indigenous Positive Employers
Here at Explore Careers, we are proud to partner with many employers who offer Indigenous positive early career pathways for young people across our communities.
Representation matters, and we know this hasn’t always been great in certain industries.
We also know that for many young people, it can be hard to ask the question about what employers are doing to change this, which is why we’re asking it for you.
When exploring our employer partner profiles, remember to look out for the inclusion and diversity badges that showcase the employers who are proactively doing more to address any identified imbalances in the representations of their teams.
There’s one specifically for Indigenous Australians, which looks like this:
