Western Sydney University expert helps shape national media resource for teachers
Digital media literacy expert Associate Professor Tanya Notley, from Western Sydney University’s School of Humanities and Communication Arts and the Institute for Culture and Society, has played a key role in shaping a new national education resource designed to boost media literacy among young Australians.
Commissioned by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the new resource, Media Consumers and Creators, aims to support teachers to equip students from Foundation to Year 10 with critical media literacy skills.
The new resource released by ACARA is built on the Australian Media Literacy Alliance (opens in a new window) (AMLA) framework, which was co-created by Associate Professor Notley. Western Sydney University is a founding member of AMLA.
Associate Professor Notley’s research focuses on digital inclusion and media literacy. She leads the Advancing Media Literacy research program (opens in a new window) at Western, which includes longitudinal surveys and qualitative research that measure the media literacy of children and adults.
“It’s been an honour to support this important initiative by ACARA to increase student access to high quality media literacy education in Australia,” said Associate Professor Notley.
“We need all young Australians to leave school with well-developed media literacy knowledge and skills to help them contend with an ever-evolving digital media landscape.”
This call for strengthened media education is backed by findings from a recent national survey of 1,064 Australians aged 8–16, led by Associate Professor Notley in collaboration with the University of Canberra and Queensland University of Technology.
It found while 83 per cent of young Australians access news regularly, only 24 per cent have received a school lesson on how to tell if news is true, and just 41 per cent feel confident distinguishing real news from misinformation, underscoring the urgent need for classroom-based media literacy education.
“The shift in young people getting more news from social media highlights the need for media literacy education that emphasises learning about visual literacy and algorithms,” she said.
“Through the Media Consumers and Creators resource, teachers are now better equipped to engage students across Media Arts, English, and Digital Technologies with real-world, relevant media literacy education.”
The resource was developed in partnership with media literacy experts including the Australian Media Literacy Alliance, ACMI, the ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media), and Michael Dezuanni (QUT), alongside Associate Professor Notley.
For more information about the resource, please visit the website (opens in a new window)
ENDS
19 May 2025
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