advocacy
At ILF we have moved away from terms like ‘closing the gap’ or sharing NAPLAN results to explain why we work in this space. Instead of focusing on deficit and disadvantage, we aim to focus on the positive attributes, strengths and resilience of the rich diverse First Nations cultures and knowledges, of which there are many. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities have the wisdoms, knowledges, skills and traditional literacy, beyond a Western literacy framework. ILF supports Communities with the tools and resources they request to lead their own, authentic literacy journeys.
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Respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ languages, histories and cultures is at the forefront of how theILF ILFImpact operates. Report 2021
“Our Communities are vibrant, strong, and highly intelligent. We have literacy around culture, Land and Community, but how Communities engage with a highly Western concept of literacy is different. I want to engage Communities in those conversations around literacy so they can redefine that space themselves. My vision for the ILF is for the organisation to support remote Communities to engage in literacy in the ways they wish.”
BEN BOWEN, ILF CEO