Rosa McKenna and Lynne Fitzpatrick summarise an extensive study of adult literacy policies and practices in vocational education in six countries - Canada, New Zealand, United States, Ireland, United Kingdom and Australia. Australia, compared to the other countries studied, has a strong focus on the integration of literacy with vocational education and training standards and...

The conception of literacy is changing to reflect the profound economic, social, political and cultural changes of the past half century. Michele Lonsdale and Doug McCurry examine three broad literacy ideologies - cognitive, individual-based model, economics-driven model, and sociocultural model. While current research situates literacy in social practice, government policy aligns more with the cognitive...

A key challenge of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system is to serve the broad needs of individuals, communities, and industries. This includes the provision of literacy and generic skills which meet the needs of all groups. Peter Waterhouse and Crina Virgona investigate and document workplace literacy in aged care facilities and call centres...

Remote Indigenous communities are under increasing pressure to share responsibility for community well-being and capacity building. Their challenge is to achieve social and economic sustainability without losing core values of Indigenous law, culture and language. Education, training and employment are essential elements to this future scenario. This report is based on a study of a...

Literacy and numeracy skills for adult learners is an important focus of the 2003 government/industry report Shaping our Future: Australia's National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 2004-2010. NCVER has contributed to national adult literacy and numeracy policy and practice with seven recently completed research projects. This set of overviews provides a comprehensive summary of...