Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House notes that:

(1) on Saturday 15 October 2016 significant monuments and landmarks will be lit red across Australia as part of Light it Red for Dyslexia; and

(2) Light it Red for Dyslexia:

(a) is an initiative to increase dyslexia awareness;

(b) coincides with international World Dyslexia Day; and

(c) is a prelaunch of Dyslexia Empowerment Week in Australia, running from 16 to 22 October 2016.

I would think that this motion has bipartisan appeal and bipartisan support, and I look forward to the House considering it. Australian Dyslexia Empowerment Week, which is now in its fourth year, is a national event created to increase awareness around dyslexia and support the approximately 10 to 20 per cent of people in our community who have dyslexia. It is a profoundly serious condition in many ways. I know for myself that reading and writing are one of the great joys I have, and I am sure they are a great joy for many in this parliament. But, if you have dyslexia, that joy initially is denied to you, unless there is a lot of support and a lot of help.

The launch of Light it Red for Dyslexia on 15 October is a way of creating dyslexia awareness in the community by lighting significant monuments and landmarks across Australia in red. In my home state of South Australia, we were very pleased to see the following places lit red: the Adelaide Town Hall balcony; City of Playford signs and monuments; City of Salisbury signs and monuments; the Gawler Town Hall and Institute building; the 'Gustav and his dog' monument in Eudunda—and I have not been to Eudunda in some years; I did play the coldest game of footy out there once, but it is worth going to see Gustav and his dog—Jetty Road and King Street Bridge in Glenelg; Parliament House; the Tonsley campus of Flinders University, at Clovelly Park; and the War Memorial at Mallala, which is a big landmark in Mallala. So we had a number of monuments lit red, and we want to see more in future years.

As I said before, dyslexia is a profoundly debilitating condition in the first instance, but you can conquer it with the right degree of support and awareness. In my electorate, Dr Sandra Marshall, who is a Town of Gawler organiser, is a very passionate person in this area. She is doing a lot to educate not just the community but the education department as well about dyslexia and how we can better help people, including students and young people, with dyslexia. I have also got to thank Ms Sandra Tidswell, Ms Jeni Ferris, Ms Leanne James, Ms Belinda Pringle, Ms Kay Bosworth, Dr Bartek Rajkowski, Mr Bill Hansberry, who I went to high school with, who is now an educator of some renown in South Australia, and Mr Robert Klose, who works in my office and who is very passionate about this condition.

The important thing about the Light it Red for Dyslexia initiative is that it has been brought about to coincide with the international World Dyslexia Day and be a prelude to Dyslexia Empowerment Week in Australia, which runs from 16 to 22 October. I have spoken in this chamber before about the nature of the condition and how it is often hidden, often passed over. Many of the sufferers endure it and work and live very productive lives in the community, but they often have trouble admitting they have this condition and they often do not get the support that they need in the community.

One of the things I would really like to see, as we launch ourselves into a new world where education becomes increasingly important and many of the entry-level jobs that allowed people with this condition to be productive members of the community in decades gone, is raising awareness, increasing acceptance and improving the avenues of help for those who suffer. I would like for all of us, I think, to be more supportive and aware of the nature of this condition and to better support those in the community who have this condition.

See this speech in context