We acknowledge and respect the Traditional Owners of lands across Australia, their Elders, Ancestors, cultures and heritage, and recognise the continuing sovereignties of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nations.

We respectfully acknowledge the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, who are the Traditional Owners of the land on which the ACTF is based and pay our respect to their Elders past and present.

We are honoured to have the opportunity to learn from the oldest cultural storytellers in the world and seek to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to share their rich culture and perspectives with children in Australia and around the world via stories on screen.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of deceased persons in photographs, film, audio recordings or text.

Insights from the inaugural Australian Media Literacy Summit

Strong media literacy skills are required to understand and navigate the media world in every stage of life. AMLA is a consortium of public institutions and networked organisations prioritising this national issue, stating that ‘media literacy has never been more important for citizens to survive and thrive’. Through a line-up of keynote speakers and panellists working in this space, AMLA’s national summit on 24 March 2023 explored the present state and future directions of media literacy in Australia.

In an engaging opening address, Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland MP acknowledged the importance of a media literate citizenry and introduced Government initiatives aimed at improving digital inclusion for all by increasing affordability, accessibility and ability. Minister Rowland also spoke passionately about the free media’s role in defending democracy, and the ways in which national broadcasters can strengthen our social, cultural and democratic fabric.

Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director of the National Association of Media Literacy Education (USA), followed Minister Rowland with a thought-provoking keynote address. Reflecting on the enormous amount of global media content generated daily, Michelle argued that while we have more information than ever available to us, we cannot necessarily say we are more informed. She emphasised the key aim of media literacy as deeply understanding the content we engage with. This includes the ability to understand and navigate entertainment media, which makes up the majority of media which people of all ages interact with daily.

Panellists representing a range of media and cultural organisations then shared their media literacy work within the schools and education space. Schools can find many of these resources for primary and secondary students at:

Initiatives in adult and community spaces were then discussed, followed by a panel on international collaborations to advance media literacy and a closing keynote by journalist and broadcaster Jan Fran. The ACTF Learning team came away inspired by this day of professional development and reenergised in our work for Australian schools.

Along with advocating for Australian stories to be used in Australian classrooms, the ACTF’s educational resources and events seek to develop students’ ability to think critically about entertainment media – the television shows that young people watch for relaxation and enjoyment. Our resources build media production understandings and skills, awareness of how representations are intentionally constructed for the screen, and students’ understanding of their roles as audience members and content creators. The three resources below are a great example of our work in the media literacy space.

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Media representations resource (Years 5 – 6)

This resource guides students in examining representations and points of view in children’s television. Students will learn from industry experts, then view and respond to clips drawn from children’s television programs. The short learning tasks encourage students to critically reflect on their roles as audience members and content creators.

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Story building and screenwriting learning resource (Years 5 – 8)

By working through the short learning tasks and video interviews in this resource, students discover the collaborative nature of storytelling for the screen from MaveriX creators Rachel Clements, Sam Meikle and Isaac Elliot. The resource guides students in developing an original story and script.