This year has been full of twists and turns. Change is happening faster and with less certainty, especially for those of us in adult learning and community education. But despite everything, we’ve kept adapting, finding new ways to make a difference and add real value for our educators, learners and communities.
A big thank you to our members, partners and supporters in the sector for everything you’ve contributed along the way, we couldn’t do this without you.
Below are some highlights of our achievements this year:
Professional Development
ALA delivered 10 professional development webinars during 2025 covering topics such as helping adult learners to improve their writing, intergenerational Aboriginal learning during NAIDOC Week and creative LLN approaches using AI. More than 1,200 people registered for these webinars.
ALA members can access these and other past recordings here. We are already organising our first webinars for 2026, and members and non-members can register for those here.
Adult Learners Week – 30 Years 
This year marked 30 years of Adult Learners Week in Australia, a UNESCO initiative funded by the Australian government. We launched the Week with our partners in Devonport, supported by Libraries Tasmania and local learning organisations, under the theme Celebrate Learning Together.
The focus on regional and rural communities highlighted the breadth and diversity of learning across Australia. It gave us a chance to put a spotlight on some of our fantastic adult learners, events and activities. Watch our highlights video.
Publications
We published three editions of Quest magazine, showcasing Adult Learners Week, innovation in literacy and numeracy, sector developments and member news. Three issues of AJAL were also released, with new co-editors, Piper Rodd and Cheryl Ryan taking over mid-year from Trace Ollis. Rob Townsend and Jeffrey Bryant Jones oversaw our special edition on creative pedagogies, and we will bring you a special webinar on this topic in March 2026.
International Representation
In October 2025, ALA was the sole Australian civil society representative endorsed by the Australian Government to attend the UNESCO/UIL GRALE 6 capacity-building workshop in Shanghai. With delegates from across the Asia–Pacific, the Global Report on Adult Learning and Education(GRALE) workshop strengthened understanding of the GRALE 6 survey and promoted consistent reporting standards.
ALA is now working with the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to ensure Australia’s national reporting aligns with global expectations and reflects community-based adult learning.
Advocacy and Government Engagement
During this year, we met with Andrew Giles, Minister for Skills and Training, Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Social Services and Ged Kearney, Assistant Minister for Social Services and other federal and state government representatives. We released multiple media statements, wrote to a range of Ministers, and participated in key advisory committees including the Foundation Skills Study Steering Committee, ASQA groups and the Reading Writing Hotline.
I was also pleased to contribute to the judging of the 2025 Australian Training Awards in one of their key categories, and to support successful advocacy for the North Melbourne Language and Learning Centre. Working with Neighbourhood Houses Victoria and ACEVIC, we were able to help secure a safe relocation for the Centre prior to the North Melbourne public housing tower (where it was located for many years) being demolished.
Projects and Sector Support
ALA managed several Victorian Government projects in collaboration with state peaks, focusing on digital literacy, professional development and sector capacity building. We secured Cyber Security project funding from the Department of Home Affairs and continued to provide administrative and financial support to smaller adult education organisations which rely on our infrastructure to run their operations.
Learning Changes Lives (LCL) Foundation
Through our charitable arm, the LCL Foundation, we awarded 6 x $500 scholarships during Adult Learners Week and funded a digital literacy program for Aboriginal learners at Tauondi Aboriginal College in South Australia. You can read about these at the LCL website.
65 Year Celebrations 
Finally, 2025 was a special year, as we celebrated ALA’s 65th anniversary. Across the year, we invited people to send 65 celebratory messages recognising ALA and the adult and community education sector. These were shared across our social media and in Quest and have now been collated as a record of ALA and our sector in 2025. You can read my reflections on the milestone in the Special Edition of AJAL, which celebrated its 65th anniversary this year.
Acknowledgements
I want to thank our Board, especially our Executive: President Kathleen Priestley, Vice-President John Sheen, Treasurer Ron Wilson and Secretary Isabel Osuna-Gatty for their leadership throughout the year. My thanks also to AJAL editors Trace Ollis (who finished part-way through the year), Piper Rodd and Cheryl Ryan.
We acknowledge and thank our Federal and State Government funding bodies for their support: the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Jobs, Skills Industry and Regions (Victoria).
I would also like to thank and acknowledge our hardworking staff team – Tracey, Sharmy, Sophie, Henrik, Natalie and Wendy – all part-time, whose commitment has kept everything moving forward. We are sad to farewell two of our team members, Sophie Arnold (Communications Coordinator) and Natalie Corrigan (Membership and Engagement Officer). We thank them sincerely for their contribution and wish them every success in their future endeavours.
Jenny Macaffer
Adult Learning Australia
CEO