Thursday 21 November 2013

Minister talks at the National Press Club




Mitch Fifield the assistant minster responsible for the NDIS rollout spoke at the National Press Club yesterday.

Read about the short fall in funding which has already occurred in the first quarter in a summary from 'The Age' http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/national-disability-insurance-scheme-faces-5-billion-cost-blowout-20131120-2xvtx.html 

You can watch and listen to his address to the National Press Club at

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-20/national-press-club-senator-mitch-fifield/5105980 

It is also useful to listen to as he does make clear some of the areas which will and will not be funded.  He also emphasises that organisations which previously received funding for research and other services would still receive this. 

Cathy is registered to provide services to clients who have NDIS plans completed, and require specialist services in
·         Complex Communication Needs
·         Mealtime assessments and supports
·         Easy English.

cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au
0466 579 855 

Monday 18 November 2013

Make a submission: A review of equality before the law

"n July 2013, The Australian Law Reform Commission announced an Inquiry into Commonwealth laws and legal frameworks that deny or diminish the equal recognition of people with disability before the law, and their ability to exercise legal capacity."  ALRC. 2013

 The Issues Paper has just been released "Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws." Submissions are due by mid December, 2013.

There are Easy English version available of the submission process and the questions being asked in the Issues Paper.

Full version
http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/disability-IP44
Description of how to make a submission and the questions on the issues paper in Easy English.
http://www.alrc.gov.au/about/easy-english

Do you need help making your submission in Easy English?
Contact Cathy
0466 579 855
cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

Wednesday 6 November 2013

Notes on current adult literacy skills

In October, 2013 the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Literacy Competencies (PIAAC) was released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This was done in line with the OECD 2013 report. http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4228.0Main+Features12011-12?OpenDocument
Note the data was collected in 2011-2012.

Earlier this year initial data indicated 44% or 7.3. million Australian adults has non functional literacy.



Below is some of the other significant data to consider.



The PIAAC measured across 3 domains

1. Literacy.

2. Numeracy.

3. Problem solving in technology-rich environments.

As these are slightly different domains compared with the 2 previous studies in 1996 and 2007 direct comparisons need to be carefully considered. In addition this survey data was collated in 6 skill levels; Level 5 - through to Below Level 1.



Level 5 is high attainment of complex multi level documents and information, Level 4 and 3 at functional and skilled abilities.

Level 2, Level 1 and Below level 1 are skill levels which are  non functional level.



Literacy

The new data 44% or 7.3 million adults Australians have non functional literacy.

Critically, 13.7% or 1.4 million  adult Australians are at Skill1 level 1 or below skill level 1.

 
 


Proportion at each literacy level—2011–12




Numeracy

Functional skills in numeracy require a range of knowledge and abilities also.
 

For example, “Tasks from level 2 include a range of common contexts where maths content is fairly explicit or visual...... Involves calculating with whole numbers and common decimals, per cents and fractions; simple measurement and spatial representation; estimation; and interpretation of relatively simple data and statistics in texts, tables and graphs.”

From Appendix Scores and Skill Levels. Calculation of Scores www.ABS.gov.au  #4228


53.5% or 11.7 million adult Australians do not have the skills in numeracy to be able to complete Level 2 tasks, or below, rating them as being non-functional in numeracy.  

This is extremely crucial for all information in Health Literacy, Financial Literacy and many other day to day activities.


 Proportion at each numeracy level—2011–12




Look out for my future blogs here on

Problem solving in technology-rich environments

The influence of

1. Age

2. Culture and place of birth (Australia or other countries)

3. Education

4. Labour force status.



Cathy


0466 579 855


Reference note: Graphs and data from PIAAC report. at http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4228.0Main+Features12011-12?OpenDocument