Adult literacy in Australia, 1989

This study is the first national survey of adult English literacy in Australia. The study was initiated as part of the National Policy on Languages Initiative by the Department of Employment, Education and Training. The aim was to determine what proportion of the adult Australian population is able to perform literacy tasks at various levels of difficulty. The survey assessed literacy by self-report and empirical tasks, and also included questions about difficulties at school, childhood exposure to reading, and tuition in English. The empirical tasks involved 25 everyday activities that require some degree of literacy. Background variables include age, sex, geographical location, level of education, ethnicity, employment status, and occupation.