A new national campaign to improve literacy has been launched by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.
Ms Gillard said the campaign was designed to tackle taboos around illiteracy by promoting a culture of reading in every home, school and workplace.
She said the Government would contribute $1.3 million towards the campaign which was supported by Australian libraries and their associations, State Governments, community groups and commercial partners.
“Children’s brains develop rapidly in their early years and it is widely recognised that sharing books with them before they start school greatly improves their chances of developing good literacy skills,” Ms Gillard said.
“Other research shows nearly half of all Australians do not have the literacy skills they need to cope with the demands of everyday life and work.
“This means millions of adults find it difficult to do everyday tasks such as reading a timetable or following medical instructions.”
She said the 2012 National Year of Reading campaign would highlight the benefits of reading as a life skill and as a catalyst for well-being through thousands of local community events held in libraries, schools and workplaces.
“Events include children’s competitions, peer-to-peer book reviews, adult book clubs and workplace literacy programs,” she said.
“The campaign includes a call to action for parents and caregivers to share a book with their children for an hour each week or 10 minutes a day.”
Ms Gillard said it would also challenge Australians to read for one hour on Saturday 25 August 2012.