Jess Teesdale (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, may I congratulate you on this role. Today I speak about Tasmania's literacy challenges. Data shows us that Tasmanians are up to, and around, 50 per cent illiterate. What that means is that they're working below level 3 literacy skills, a functional benchmark. What that means for your day-to-day life is that reading signage, engaging with any form of government forms or business, reading in the supermarket or reading maps is a real challenge for over 50 per cent of Tasmanians. One in two, an outrageous statistic. Our school completion rates are some of the lowest in the nation. Part of that is that we are hoping to get more students into apprenticeships early, and that is a really positive thing. However, most of those students who are not going on to year 12 are not going into apprenticeships; they are leaving the school system, particularly because they do struggle with their reading.

Our share of kids who are determined as being 'on track' by the AEDC fell from 80.6 per cent in 2009 to 77 per cent in 2021. That's a shocking statistic. That has, since 2021, started to come back, but we are nowhere near on par with the rest of the nation. We have too many adults who cannot confidently tackle everyday reading. Too many kids are starting school already behind, and far too few are finishing school. That's impacting Tasmania's productivity and wellbeing today and tomorrow and into the future. Today I'm going to investigate a little bit into how we got here and what we can do next.

For years the Tasmanian government focused on a balanced literacy approach. Traditionally, we like balance. Balance is a positive thing. When we talk about balanced literacy, what it actually means is that we were teaching children to guess. We'd say: 'Look at the word. Look at the shape. What do you think it might look like? Look at the picture; that will help you.' That is not, as evidence very clearly shows now, an appropriate way to teach reading, and is a direct reason why 50 per cent of Tasmanians now face illiteracy. Synthetic phonics is an approach that has now shown consistently positive impact. Synthetic phonics is when we explicitly and systematically teach the letter-sound correspondence. This is very much a key approach that, thankfully, the Tasmanian government has started to look at, but far too late.

More broadly, we require that explicit instruction. We need to have clear modelling, we need to show guided practice and we need to lead that into independent practice. Many teachers these days struggle to get to the end of this system. They struggle to get kids working independently due to constant time pressures. Those time pressures are very, very hard on teachers. Our curriculum is very wide, and sometimes it's very hard to get through it all to a place where students can actually work independently.

We know that there are changes happening, and I am pleased to say that the Tasmanian government schools have started implementing evidence based reading, which is fantastic, particularly using a multitiered systemic approach. There has been training for teachers available, which has been through Deakin University and UTAS, which is a good start. We also have a bit of a systematic plan, running from 2024-26, and I was very pleased to be part of those initial trials. For our adults, we have the wonderful company 26Ten. They're continuing their statewide advocacy for adult literacy and numeracy training. This is a crucial lever, and they're doing some fantastic work. Our Albanese Labor government, I'm proud to say, is also putting record funding into schools, where it is much, much needed.

Then there is the support from charities. If we look globally and see other areas where literacy has been a challenge in previous years, we can see the impact of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. I'm not sure if anyone here has heard of it, but it is an incredible program with excellent results. The evidence from this program is that children are more school ready by the time they reach kindergarten or prep. An Australian longitudinal study of families engaging with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library showed that those children who are reading daily now are five times more likely to still be reading daily in the future years. That is a huge impact.

We know, particularly in Australia, that we need this. We're very grateful to a company called Rosie's Reading in Tasmania. They're just getting started, and they're planning on rolling out in two suburbs across Tasmania. Both of those, I'm very grateful to say, are in Bass, in some of our most needy communities. This charity is working towards providing one book each month, from birth up until five years of age, for every child born within these two suburbs. What an incredible gift for those families.

But what can parents do? We've talked about governments and we've talked about schools, but there is a responsibility here on parents. So I beg. I beg to parents: read aloud to your child every single day. We know that shared book reading has very, very positive effects on children's language. It has positive impacts on the quality of their interactions. It helps them understand the meaning of more words. It helped them understand and share their ideas and share what they need. We need to talk together, and we need to help build vocabulary.

We talk about vocabulary, but very few people actually understand how important it is. Vocabulary size is a strong prediction for reading comprehension, but it's also a long-term indicator of academic or vocational success. We need to make sure that all children have a broad vocab. This means that they can share their feelings and engage in debate. We know, particularly here in this place, that vocabulary is a very important thing. We need to be able to share our constituents' needs. We know that evidence based teaching and family engagement will boost outcomes for children moving forward.

I often have parents ask me: 'Where do I start? How I do help my child gain these skills, gain a love of reading and gain that critical vocabulary?' I say to parents, start with the books you loved as a child. Spot was one of my favourites. Room on the Broom is another fantastic text; it's fun, engaging and has rhyme and rhythm. Make that a ritual. Ten to 15 minutes before bed each night not only gives you that one-on-one time with your child; it also makes a lifetime impact on what they can do for their future. Talk about new words. Pick out two or three new words from every text that you read with your child. Explain what they mean. Use them at breakfast the next day. That is critical. Our libraries are incredible places and so underutilised, I think, particularly for Bass. You walk in there and it is safe, it is quiet and it is calm. There are so many stories and so many adventures you can pick up off each shelf. Read aloud to your child.

If we can help parents read aloud every day—if we can promote that in this place, with our reach and what we do here—then we can help children enjoy reading from the very earliest years. We can help them enjoy it at home, in early learning and with evidence based teaching in every classroom. I'm very excited to say that that will help Tasmania to be a stronger, much more capable society which can advocate on its own behalf.

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