The Australian Association of Adult Education (AAAE) was formally established in 1960 in Hobart. Arnold Hely played a key role in establishing the AAAE as a national voice for adult education and was also a founder of Asian South Pacific Bureau Adult Education (ASPBAE).

Adult education continued in Australia at a state level through the WEA (Workers Education Association) in NSW & SA, Universities in Sydney, Perth, Armidale & Adelaide; State Boards in Queensland & Tasmania and CAE in Vic.

Victorian Council of Adult Education (now Centre for Adult Education) was established. Adult Education Board in Tasmania was created.

The first Board of Adult Education was established in QLD to organise, supervise and direct’ adult education in Queensland. The Act to set up the Council of Adult Education in Victoria was passed by the Cain Government.

The 1944 Duncan Report proposed a national system of adult education for post World War II Australia, however, implementation required a level of federal–state cooperation that Chifley thought too difficult to achieve.

The Workers’ Educational Associations arrived in Australia in 1913 (two exist today in Sydney and SA). WEA Sydney was established jointly by the trade union movement and the University of Sydney to enable working people to gain a liberal education.

The first Victorian Mechanics’ Institute was the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institute established in 1839 and renamed The Melbourne Athenaeum in 1873. Institutes proliferated to over 1200 in Victoria and 50 in Tasmania by 1890.

The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts (established 1833) offered everything – ‘from pneumatics, ancient oratory and ship-building to phrenology, how to choose a horse and the poetry of Byron. There were even classes in Simple Surgery. It was the centre of colonial Sydney’s intellectual, cultural, social and political life’ (smsa.org.au).

The Mechanics Institute movement started in Glasgow in the 1800s. ‘Mechanic’ referred to the working man, tradesman or artisan. The Institutes were welcoming spaces that offered adult education classes and books to borrow. The first Australian Mechanics School was established in Hobart in 1827.

Volume 60, Number 3, November 2020 Getting serious: The national ‘vision splendid’ for adult education 60 years onBarry Golding Educating Australian adults in an era of social and economic changeStephen Billet & Darryl Dymock Esmonde Higgins and the lost history of Australian adult education Bob Boughton Sixty years of adult learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: […]

Adult Learning Australia (ALA) welcomes the recent release of the ‘Tasmanian Adult Learning Strategy – skills for work and life 2020-2023’ by the Minister for Education and Training, Jeremy Rockliff MP. The strategy provides support through lifelong learning for individuals, families and communities to improve their wellbeing and potential. The adult learning sector has a […]

ALA joins with the Australian Community Sector in calling on all members of the Commonwealth Parliament to consider the Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bill 2020and to allow a parliamentary inquiry with public hearings, so the community, business and people can have their say. See the statement      

Adult Learning Australia and Victorian Adult Literacy Basic Education Council are coming together for this special webinar event. This webinar is designed for teachers of literacy who also teach some numeracy. It will discuss what are important concepts to understand. The webinar will look at the common issues learners have with numeracy and mathematics. It […]

What can we learn from the history of adult learning and education in Australia and what lies ahead? Hear from Australian and international leaders in adult learning and education (ALE) as they reflect on key milestones in adult learning’s past and discuss their vision for its future. This virtual event marks the 60th anniversary of […]

Adult and Community Education Victoria (ACEVic), Neighbourhood Houses Victoria (NHV) and Adult Learning Australia (ALA) welcome the opportunity to provide input into the Inquiry into access to TAFE for learners with disability. Collectively, we aim to strengthen the provision of adult and community education (ACE) in Victoria within an integrated post- secondary education system. Read: […]