ILP Partners

The Indigenous Literacy Project is a partnership between:



2007 ILD Images

Brisbane

Canberra

Sydney
Indigenous Literacy Day 2007

In 2007 our focus was the inaugural Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD), held on September 5.

On that day 265 participating publishers and booksellers across Australia donated 5% of their sales (and often more) to the Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP).  A nationwide campaign encouraged Australians to purchase a book on ILD to support Indigenous literacy.

In every state schools were eager participants, raising funds and holding events to educate their students about Indigenous culture and barriers to literacy.

ILD events were held across the nation.

  • In Sydney, Joey Williams, Deborah Mailman, Anita Heiss, Tara June Winch, Gayle Kennedy and Gabi Hollows launched ILD at Abbotsleigh School to an audience of a 1000 kids.
  • At the State Library of New South Wales a panel of writers chaired by Sydney Writers Festival Director Wendy Ware spoke about ‘Reading Opens Doors’, a key theme of ILD. David Malouf recalled the power of the books he read growing up and playwright Tommy Murphy talked about the joy of reading plays which left so much more up to the readers’ imagination.
  • In Canberra, hip hop musician and youth support worker Nathan Carter (aka Carts2Deadly) talked to local ACT schools about books being a time machine, taking the reader to wherever they desired.

  • In Queensland, ABC radio devoted a week’s programming to the event. The Governor of Queensland, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce launch ILD at Riverbend Books with Fred Hollows Foundation ambassador Susie O’Neill.

  • In Melbourne authors Alexis Wright, Andy Griffiths and Paul Jennings joined forces at Readers Feast Bookshop to celebrate ILD.

  • In Western Australia, Kim Scott, Terri-Ann White and the University of Western Australia were joined by an elder of the Noongar tribe in a discussion about the importance of literacy.

  • In South Australia, a fundraiser was organised by Arts SA, The University of Adelaide and the Australian Society of Authors with the support of Nicholas Jose, Anita Heiss, Uncle Lewis O’Brien, Alexis Wright and Jared Thomas.

Indigenous Literacy Day - A tremendous success!

We raised just over $250,000 in 2007, far exceeding our target of $100,000.

A very generous donation of $65,000 was received from the NSW Bar Association 2007 SILKS.

We would like to sincerely thank and acknowledge the tremendous support we received from authors, teachers, schools, bookshops and publishers and the many members of the public who donated both funds and their time. Their generosity has given life to the project.

How and where will the funds be spent in 2008?

The funds raised will be put to work by our partners at The Fred Hollows Foundation who work in close collaboration with many remote Indigenous communities. The Fred Hollows Foundation will provide literacy resources for many communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and five communities in Western New South Wales and Queensland.

These areas include;

  • Katherine East Region, Northern Territory
    In 2008 the area supported by the ILP will be expanded to include the entire Sunrise Health Services (SHS) region. This will mean that in addition to the five communities of Gulin Gulin (Bulman), Wugularr (Beswick), Manyallaluk (Eva Valley), Barunga and Urapunga which already are benefiting from the project, four new communities will participate. These are Jilkminggan, Werebun (Edith Falls), Minyerri and Ngukurr.
  • Ngaanyatjarra Region, Western Australia
    ILP will target eight communities represented by the Ngannyatjarra Council.  Papulankutja, Mantamaru, Patjarr, Tjirrkarli, Wanarn, Warakurna, Warburton and Wingellina will now benefit from ILP through the efforts its English as a Second Language Coordinator as the local ILP Officer.
  • Western New South Wales
    ILP will reach communities in Brewarrina, Wilcannia, Ivanhoe, Engonnia, Bourke, and Menindee.
  • Woorabinda, Queensland
    The expansion of ILP delivery into Queensland, where the project began, has been a long term goal. More recently the flooding of January 2008 that devastated the region will have resulted in the loss of much of its literacy resources.