Adult Learning Australia

20/10/2026

Do you want to feel safer online but don't know where to start? 🧐

Our free cyber security training gives you access to eight online models designed to help you and your adult learners build confidence and know-how in a digital world.

Enrol by emailing [email protected] 😊

18/10/2026

A reminder for our Victorian members 📢

Changes to the Working with Children (WWC) Check in Victoria take effect today, Monday 19 October.

From today, anyone applying for a new WWC Check, renewing their WWC Check, or changing from a volunteer to an employee WWCC must complete mandatory online child safety training through Services Victoria.

This training covers keeping children safe, appropriate behaviour with children, recognising grooming and concerning behaviour, and how to respond when you are worried about a child.

Organisations are also now legally required to use the new WWC Connect online service to verify the people they engage to work with children and to notify the regulator (the Social Services Regulator) who they are working with.

You are only responsible for adding people to WWC Connect who are directly engaged by your organisation. For anyone who is employed by another organisation, such as agency workers, their employer is responsible for recording them in WWC Connect. Your responsibility for these workers is to make sure their WWC Check is current before they attend.

Find more information about these changes on the Victorian Government website: vic.gov.au/mandatory-child-safety-training-working-children-clearance-holders

11/10/2026

It was fabulous to get together last Thursday with our inspiring Victorian colleagues to celebrate the success of Learn Local providers at the 2026 Learn Local Awards.

Congratulations to all of the winners, and to every nominee - your impact as champions of adult learners & pre-accredited training pathways is exceptional 👏

Images (from left to right):

1. Kerry Brown, Jessie Deane and Karishma Karki from Yarraville Community Centre with ALA's Learning Projects Manager Nicola Innes

2. Theodora Macris, 2026 Ro Allen Award winner

3. Melissa Martin and Nina Bekker from ACEVic, John Maddock AM, Adult, Community and Further Education (ACFE) Board Chair, and ALA's Nicola Innes

08/10/2026

How can learning and education best help people looking for a second chance after time in the justice system?

Our next professional development webinar promises a compelling conversation about the role that educators and learning can play in supporting people to rebuild their lives.

Thursday, October 15
1pm - 2pm (AEDT)

Free for ALA members | $65 for non-members

With insights from:

Educator Adam Nobilia, Adult Learners' Week 2026 keynote speaker and author of an upcoming memoir about his experiences teaching people with intellectual disabilities in the justice system.

Lifelong learner and lawyer Tim Looker, whose long experience working in the legal system and his own adult learning journey saw him admitted to the South Australian Supreme Court at the age of 74.

And Pattie Phillips, whose lived experience of the justice system and as an adult learner now helping others is a powerful example of resilience and transformation.

With facilitator and ALA President John Sheen.

Register to join us for this important session, being held as part of Anti Poverty Week 2026, at www.ala.asn.au/professional-development/webinars/

07/10/2026

📢 Calling all current or prospective Learn Local educators in Victoria - don't miss this fabulous opportunity!

Scholarships are available for teaching in adult and community education.

The ACE Scholarships Program helps current and prospective Learn Local teachers to boost their language, literacy and numeracy teaching skills.

Scholarships range from $500 to $20,000. They cover courses and qualifications offered online and at:
• Park Orchards Community House & Learning Centre
• Chisholm Institute
• Charles Sturt University
• Victoria University.

This is a joint initiative from the Australian and Victorian Governments.
View the ACE Scholarships Program guidelines at https://www.vic.gov.au/ace-scholarships-program

23/09/2026

This week's 2026 Intergenerational Report highlights the seismic shifts ahead for our country, and the skills Australians urgently need to meet them in a way which benefits and strengthens our entire community.

ALA welcomes that essential national conversation.

What's crystal clear to us in this time of huge change is the vital importance of lifelong learning, and of ensuring that all Australians can access learning opportunities - regardless of their age, postcode or educational history.

“Now more than ever, Australia needs a national lifelong learning strategy to ensure greater investment in human intelligence alongside investment in artificial intelligence, and lifelong learning opportunities alongside skills and training pathways,” says ALA CEO Jenny Macaffer.

Read more in our latest media release: https://ala.asn.au/media-releases/

21/09/2026

Our warmest congratulations to the team at Laverton Community Education Centre - RTO: 6408 for being named Community Training Provider of the Year at the 2026 Victorian Training Awards on Friday night 👏👏👏

Such a fantastic night of celebrating the incredible work being done right across Victoria's ACE sector - we love seeing our members being recognised for their brilliant commitment and skill!

Read more about all the winners at www.vic.gov.au/victorian-training-awards

Images: The LCEC team (left) and (right) Adult Learning Australia CEO Jenny Macaffer with LCEC Education Centre Manager Bill Daly

09/09/2026

Calling all current & prospective Victorian adult and community teachers - applications for Victoria's ACE Scholarships Program are now open 👏

Scholarships are available for teaching in adult and community education.

The ACE Scholarships Program helps current and prospective Learn Local teachers to boost their language, literacy and numeracy teaching skills.

Scholarships range from $500 to $20,000. They cover courses and qualifications offered online and at:
• Park Orchards Community House & Learning Centre
• Chisholm Institute
• Charles Sturt University
• Victoria University.

This is a joint initiative from the Australian and Victorian Governments.

View the ACE Scholarships Program guidelines at https://www.vic.gov.au/ace-scholarships-program

Photo: Representatives from governments, Learn Locals, TAFEs and universities gathered to launch the ACE Scholarships

08/09/2026

It's a special day today 🎀 - not only but also the final day of a fantastic Adult Learners Week 2026 ☺

Both ILD and ALW champion & celebrate the many ways in which forges new paths, reveal new possibilities & feeds some of life's most vital ingredients: curiosity, confidence and community.

We launched last week with the theme: Follow Your Compass - Learning for Life - and today we applaud everyone who has made their own crucial decision to choose a new future through learning as an adult 👏

Love this image from the ALW2026 national launch last week: our fabulous pannellists and adult learners Arron Brienesse, Memnuna Kadric and Casey Fox (L-R), with Andrew Giles MP and MC Sheron Sultan - thanks again to our wonderful 2026 launch partners MTC FutureReady

📸 Helene Cochaud

08/09/2026

We love hearing from our Ambassadors - thanks to Lennon Hopkins from Western Australia 🎊 whose advice is perfect for this Adult Learners' Week and for today: everyone's learning compass will work differently!

That's the wonderful diversity and discovery of adult learning ☺

Read about Lennon's fascinating learning path from circus instructor to PhD student here: https://adultlearnersweek.org/lifelong-learning/lennon-hopkins-western-australia/ 🧭