Welcome to the September eValbec where we bring you news from the field. September is always a special date in the adult LND field as we commemorate adult literacy day across the world. This year marks the 60th anniversary of International Literacy Day designated by UNESCO, with the theme being "Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity".
What a thought provoking theme - how can literacy support the planet and its people prosper when we are faced with a real threat to critical consciousness? We have a responsibility when we teach literacy in all its forms, to include critical consciousness.
For VALBEC’s special event please join our webinar presentation by Sally Thomson on the theme of Conflictual Cooperation in Adult Literacy Practice. See below for details.
We are pleased to support the 50th anniversary of the Australian Council of Adult Literacy’s special event
We are sending our intrepid travellers, Geri Pancini and Rob McCormack to the event and we are looking forward to reading their recollections in the next Fine Print! Deborah Mullan, VALBEC co-president and ACAL rep is also attending.
Until next month,
Linno and Deborah.
You can join or renew online.
https://valbec.org.au/membership/
If you join in August, September or October, deduct 50%. Renewal falls due the following February.
Members receive:
- Fine Print two times a year – a high quality journal for discussion and debate about good practice, theory and policy issues. Feedback and contributions are actively sought from members about content and issues.
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eVALBEC – our e-mail communication keeping members informed of professional development activities, general committee activities and more up to date policy changes.
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Discounts for the Annual Conference and other VALBEC statewide professional development.
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Issues-based forums.
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Focus on significant policy issues impacting on the field.
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Free numeracy resources.
Funding Extension
The Reading Writing Hotline is delighted to share some great news. In a joint media release on 14 August Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon. Andrew Giles MP, and the NSW Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education, Hon. Steve Whan, announced an extension of TAFE NSW’s contract to run the Hotline. The renewed funding till 2029 more than doubles the investment provided over the previous three years. This means that the Hotline will have been continuously funded for 35 years.
International Literacy Day
The Hotline will be celebrating International Literacy Day 2026 by publishing our new research, Reaching the learners we never meet: Research and discussion paper, authored by Jo Medlin.
Vale Evelyn Goodwin
We are deeply saddened to let you know of the passing of our wonderful friend and colleague, Evelyn Goodwin. An incredible advocate for adult community education, Evelyn had a deep commitment to adult literacy and numeracy and was a valued member of the Hotline’s Steering Committee. Our heart goes out to her family, friends and her many colleagues across the adult education sector.
Indigenous Literacy Day
Indigenous Literacy Day on 2 September is an annual celebration of First Nations peoples’ stories, cultures and languages created by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF).
Adult Learners Week 2026 – Follow your Compass!
Adult and community education providers will be joining others across Australia to celebrate Adult Learners Week from 1 – 8 September.
The theme for this year’s Adult Learners Week is Follow Your Compass – chosen because the compass shares learning’s ability to reveal new paths and open up new horizons.
Find out everything to celebrate ALW 2026 HERE.
ACAL Turns 50!
ACAL celebrates turning 50 in a special symposium in Canberra on Tuesday 8 September. This huge achievement reflects five decades of committed voluntary work and advocacy from literacy and numeracy practitioners across Australia. VALBEC members Deb Mullan, Rob McCormack and Geri Pancini will be in attendance.
Conflictual Cooperation in Adult Literacy Practice
A VALBEC (Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council) Professional Learning session presented by Sally Thompson.
Conflictual cooperation is a concept that has recently emerged in studies of not for profits to describe practices associated with acting as an agent of the state while also taking a critical stance against it. Conflictual cooperation includes everyday resistance, dynamic resistance and moral engagement with accountability literacies.
This workshop applies the concept to adult literacy practice to describe the way adult literacy teachers balance their obligations to learners for human-centred, relational pedagogies with demands from funding bodies for pedagogies based on human capital theory and market-oriented administration.
Sally Thompson teaches in the Master of Education at Victoria University and conducts research into relational pedagogies and marginalised learners. She has a history of work in adult literacy in TAFE and the community education sector.
We look forward to seeing you there.
VALBEC PL Forums Team
Who: Sally Thompson
When: Thursday 10 September, 5:30pm - 6:30pm AEST
Where: Zoom
Cost: VALBEC Members Free. Non-Members $10
Click HERE to register for this event.
Save the date!
On the back of the hugely successful numeracy PD day last year, VALBEC are hosting another Numeracy professional development day on Monday 7th Dec. It will be free for all participants and all workshops will be hands-on with take aways for class.
The PD day is aimed at anyone who needs to teach numeracy (including literacy teachers).
A call for presenters and registration will follow soon.
Digital Literacy
Collaboration using digital technology: Quizlet Live
Quizlet is an online platform that helps with knowledge retrieval using a variety of features. Flashcards can be created, where one side may have an image, key term or question. The other side may have the definition, answer or solution.
Students can practice these flashcards digitally, but a collaborative way a teacher could use this in class is the Quizlet Live function.
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With selected flashcard sets, teachers can select the live function. -
Students can log in and join the game.
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Then, students are split into teams.
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Teams must work together to select the correct answer on one team member's screen at a time.
Watch the following Youtube video for an overview.
Access Quizlet here.
Free Website - Australian Citizenship Resources
MTC have created a free website that provides individuals preparing for their Australian Citizenship test with access to resources and practice materials, and we would love to share it with the broader public. See Citizenship Resource Centre here.
The Fine Print team meets this month to finalise our contents for edition 2 - if you have any ideas lurking around, please let us know!
Expression of Interest (EOI) for 2027 ACFE Training Delivery
The Learn Local sector plays a vital role in changing the lives of thousands of Victorians each year by supporting learners to achieve their learning goals.
The delivery of ACFE Board-funded pre-accredited training programs is a core component of this work and is contracted through an Expression of Interest (EOI) process.
The Expression of Interest (EOI) for 2027 ACFE Training Delivery, comprising General Pre-accredited Training Delivery and Digital Skills Places opened on Thursday, 27 August and closes on Thursday, 17 September 2026.
Providers can register for information sessions on Tuesday 1 September or Thursday 3 September 2026 and can attend an online drop-in session with the Sector Engagement and Intelligence team from 7 – 10 September.
2026 ACEVic Learn Local Conference
The 2026 ACEVic Learn Local Conference, hosted in partnership with the Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board, is on Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October 2026, at the Pullman and Mercure Albert Park, Melbourne.
This year’s theme is: Adapt, Innovate, Transform, which focuses on how the adult and community education sector can respond to change, embrace new opportunities and continue to support learners.
Keynote speaker Simon Waller, futurist and author, will open the conference with Find Better Answers to Big Problems by Thinking Like a Futurist. Simon will explore how recognising trends, risks and opportunities can help us move beyond short-term thinking and prepare for what’s next.
More information is available via this link.
ACE Scholarships Program
Victoria University is now offering an exciting new program for teachers and other staff in the Learn Local Sector. It has a particular focus on 21st Century literacies including critical engagement with AI.
Beginning on 28 September and concluding on 20 October, the 4 week unit is delivered on a block model with the first and last classes held in person at the Nicholson St Campus. The remainder are conducted via Zoom. Scholarships are available for eligible students from the Victorian Government. See HERE for further details.
Congratulations to our colleagues in the Victorian government schools’ sector for their impressive win in their pay and conditions campaign. They achieved pay rises of between 28.3% and 32.4% over four years plus a lump sum payment of $2,000 at the start of the new agreement. This success could only be achieved through the strong organising and solidarity work of grass-roots AEU members.
Adult Community Education teachers understand pay and conditions in our sector lag seriously behind adjacent sectors, where teachers are doing the same or similar work. The lesson from the school’s sector campaign is that wage justice can be achieved with a highly active and motivated union membership.
From October this year, all positions in the NTEU Victorian ACE branch committee will be vacant because there were no nominations in the last round. The next round of supplementary branch elections are not until 2027. It is very important that members keep their eye out for notification of the elections and nominate. Active membership is the only way to improve pay and conditions.
Until October 15 your NTEU branch committee contact is Bill Daly. Email bday@nteu.org.au or phone 0431 075 534. If you have pay and conditions issues you can contact the NTEU by signing into the NTEU member portal and raising the matter through Help@Work. For general NTEU inquiries contact the Victorian branch at vic@nteu.org.au
eVALBEC
eVALBEC is the monthly electronic newsletter of (VALBEC) the Victorian Adult Literacy and Basic Education Council and is sent to about 1000 practitioners on the first of each month (other than January). It is also available in the ‘News’ section of our web site
Disclaimer:
The activities, goods and services mentioned in eVALBEC are not endorsed by Valbec in any way. People should make their own judgment about the suitability of each item.
How to submit items: https://www.valbec.org.au/evalbec