Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dawson for raising such an important topic in the parliament. However, given the package of education reform that this government is delivering in this country, it is a bit pre-emptive to give any support to this motion.

'Dyslexia' is a sort of a catch-all word for learning difficulties. It is a word that I do not use very much. I had a learning difficulty. I have been through a lot about dyslexia and other learning difficulties. It is a bit of a medical term and I think it sometimes holds back discussions with parents whose children may have a learning difficulty. Learning difficulties are right across the board and there is an enormous number of different reasons why people do not learn. A lot of people find it difficult and we need to continue to find new ways to help people to learn and to move through those difficulties.

In 2012, I was an ambassador for the National Year of Reading. I am a great supporter of reading and literacy. Literacy is one of the most important skills a child can learn. It is sets them up on a path for the future. It is such an important matter in some of these arguments around Gonski and in other debates around the country about university and primary education. Primary education is critical. If you do not have a primary education how can you get to university? Primary education is a critical factor in the whole education debate. We should be focusing at that end and also on kids before they get to school.

For children who suffer from a learning difficulty, the path often seems to be tough, too tough to climb. Many feel embarrassed that they cannot read and write, or spell as well as their peers. This sets up some real issues for them. This can start a pattern of shame that they often carry through their adolescence into adulthood, and it can lead to other problems. These learning difficulties have taken them onto other paths. I remind the House that jails in this country are full of people who cannot read and write, or who have had learning difficulties.

Starting from an early age, as a baby our speech is learned. We often learn to speak from repeating what our parents say and the sounds that are made. For some that does not always come naturally or easily. We learn to use our voice boxes by making all sorts of noises. If parents themselves do not have strong literacy skills then a cycle starts to emerge where the child goes to school without the same level of literacy skills as other children in their class. Child care plays an important part in this. I have been told by a lot of educators that child care makes it a lot easier for kids to get an early start in learning, learning sounds and socialisation. It makes it a lot easier for them having that sort of contact early in their lives.

It has also come forward that in houses where books are not readily available, where parents do not read and write freely and do not talk about books, that can set up an issue for young people as well. There have been different programs where mothers, after giving birth, are given a set of books to take home with them. Those sorts of issues are very important. All those sorts of programs can add to helping people get through and get a start.

If we start to diagnose at an early age and educate parents in the signs and symptoms that their child might need an extra helping hand with their reading and writing, then we are able to give them the assistance they need at an early age. This is starting to occur—there is a lot of good work being done in that space.

There is currently a lot of talk around education and its funding with the Gonski report, with the states that are looking at signing up to the national plan for schools. For me, it is a fantastic thing to see education take priority—and it should, of course—and to see people in my own communities around the Lyons electorate engaging with me on this topic. That is a terrific thing. I feel really good when people want to talk about education.

People care about their children's education. They care that they get a good education, that they get a good start, and it is really coming through when you have those sorts of discussions in the community. People are willing to fight for their children's right to a good education and they are willing to fight for their local school. That is terrific to see, and they will always get every encouragement from me.

What also strikes me from the discussions I have been having with a number of parents who themselves are not well educated, and who do suffer—and did suffer—from learning difficulties, is hearing them talk about the investment in education and the importance of that. They are talking about how important investment is. That is a wonderful thing, and I see that this government is investing greatly in education.

Those parents often admit to themselves that they had trouble learning. When their children learn in our schools, so do the parents, and these linkages continue to come through. I know that community groups around Lyons, in particular our neighbourhood houses and community houses, do a lot of work with adults and with literacy. All that sort of work is coming through more and more now, and the interest in education is starting to emerge more in debates and discussions that I have.

I recently visited a local child and family centre, Tagari Lia in Bridgewater in my electorate, for one of the Biggest Morning Tea fundraisers, and I had the chance to speak with many of the local community members. Tagari Lia runs a vast variety of programs that focus on the family and the important role that parents play in their children's lives and also in their education. They teach the parents through various literacy programs but they also notice that they teach the parents through their own children. By getting their children involved in programs run by the centre, the parents learn too and often return to do a course themselves. That is a pretty good way to get involved in education if you have not been involved in it for a long time.

They even have a weekly morning chat over coffee and biscuits there. This is a session where parents can share their stories for the week, such as any testing situations they have had and how they got through and managed them. This may not be the standard in the classroom or by the book way for people to study a course—or how a theory would say that somebody should learn—but parents who attend these sessions are learning, and this is a learning process for adults.

For those who suffer from learning difficulties, this is often how they most comfortably learn, and there are all sorts of different levels that people learn at. To me, food and reading are also a great way for people to learn and start learning, because they have an interest. Their children, of course, are critical. People often come back to education when they see that their children are starting to learn and may be having difficulties reading a story to them.

I commend the member for Dawson for bringing this motion before the parliament. As a nation, I think we can be very proud of all the educational reform packages that this government is delivering.

Debate adjourned.

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