Understanding Australian Readers Report Launch Webinar
Date Attended: 20 April 2025
Content Focus: Understanding Australian Readers Report launch and key findings; Industry Panel discussing impacts on the industry and future initiatives.
Type: Webinar Recording
Length: 2 hours
Audience: Industry professionals and policy makers in Australia.
Organisers: Australia Reads and BehaviourWorks Australia
Presenters:
Anna Burkey (Head of Australia Reads)
Dr Breanna Wright (Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director of the Health and Social Portfolio at BehaviourWorks Australia, Monash University)
Jaye Chin-Dusting (Owner of Mary Martin Bookshops; Vice President of the Booksellers Association)
Jane Cowell (CEO Yarra Plenty Regional Library; President of ALIA)
Eva Mills (Publishing Director at Allen & Unwin)
Justin Ratcliffe (Commercial Director at Thames & Hudson)
Reflection:
The Understanding Australian Readers Report Launch Webinar was a recording from February 2025, after the publication of the final Australia Reads and BehaviourWorks Australia report on Australian reader behaviour. The webinar discussed the parameters of the report and the key findings, as well as inviting a panel of industry professionals to discuss what the findings entail for the future of the library, publishing and bookselling industries in Australia.
I viewed this webinar in order to gain comprehensive insight into the reading habits and behaviours of Australian readers and non-readers. I believe this data is important to informing programs, collection development, and providing services to the library community I work in.
The webinar launch for the Understanding Australian Readers Report is important to my work as Library professional as it demonstrates key reading segments within the Australian population, detailing their barriers and challenges to reading more often, and presenting specific intervention tactics for each segment group to enable greater reading engagement and positive perspectives towards reading as a leisure pastime.
The webinar presented the key findings of the report, in which the Australian population can be categorised across six distinct reader or non-reader segments. These were found to include Avid Readers (22.4%), Engaged Readers (30.6%), Ambivalent Readers (14.8%), Aspirational Readers (14.7%), Lapsed Readers (7.1%), and Uninterested Non-Readers (10.4%).
Each segment had unique barriers to reading, yet the Engaged, Aspirational and Lapsed readers all shared the goal of wanting to prioritise reading and do it more often. Avid readers were classed as those who read daily, with the motivation, opportunity and capability to do so, whilst uninterested non-readers remained detached and felt disappointed with all previous reading experiences. Ambivalent readers tended to be readers who engaged with the activity yet remained uncertain about their interest or motivation to do so.
The report also detailed a Reading Journey Behaviour Sequence, noting six key stages within the classification of reading and being a reader. This Journey includes finding books you want to read, choosing the book you want to read, getting the book, starting to read the book, continuing to read the book, and reflecting and sharing the book with others. The webinar highlighted a few core barriers and drivers each reader segment might face during the different reading journey stages, such as avid and engaged readers enjoying the process of finding and choosing books to read, whilst lapsed and aspirational readers may find this part of the reading journey daunting and overwhelming.
This webinar was an exciting glimpse into the contents of the full report, and has intrigued me to understand the greater details related to each reader segment. By gaining an initial picture of this data, I can begin to develop conversations within my workplace as a Programs Library Assistant at Liverpool City Library, to develop programs and collection development policies which will better serve these segments of readers within our community. I would like to delve into the full report and draw ideas from the findings and interventions suggestions to further support readers within my community, and to inform programs and outreach I facilitate in my career as a public libraries librarian, and one day, as a school librarian.
Evidence of Attendance:
Understanding Australian Readers Website Link
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