Australia Reads is on a mission to get more people reading more books, more often.
We believe reading is the key to a smarter, healthier, happier nation. Research shows that reading books can be a great way to improve your cognitive abilities, relax your body and lower your heart rate, and enhance how happy you are with life.
Our purpose is to champion reading as a healthy daily habit to help improve outcomes for all Australians.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever you want to achieve, and however you want to achieve it – we believe your chance of success, personal wellbeing and happiness can be significantly improved when you read books regularly.
We are a not-for-profit joint initiative of the Australian Booksellers Association, Australian Library and Information Association, Australian Publishers Association and the Australian Society of Authors working in collaboration with their members.
We are driven by our common interest in championing the extraordinary joy and pleasure to be had in reading, promoting the many wellbeing benefits of reading books, and increasing the discoverability and accessibility of work by Australian book creators – especially that of the 300+ Australian writers, storytellers, novelists and illustrators who’ve joined us as Ambassadors.
We act as a creative content, events and marketing agency for the Australian book industry, informed by research, and designed as a conduit for connecting businesses, communities, organisations and schools with exciting reading opportunities.
Ultimately, we want people to put down their phones, turn off the TV, pick up a book and read. Reading for 10 minutes a day at the average reading rate of 300 words per minute means you could be reading 3,000 words a day, leading to 90,000 words (the average length of an adult book) each month.
If you’re looking for your next book why not check out our reading recommendations by guest curators including Bibliotherapists Sonya Tsakalakis and Germaine Leece, as well as from The Kids Bookshop.
Check back soon to download official artwork, logos, and other assets for promoting your event.
Australia Reads is made possible thanks to the amazing support of our partners.
Australia Reads has been assisted by the Australian Government, through the Office for the Arts, and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands where we live and work.
We pay our respect to Elders, past, present and emerging, and honour the sharing of traditional stories passed down through generations.
Are you ready for Australian Reading Hour 2021?
Ok, take a deep breath, and repeat after us.
“I will read or listen to an Australian book, whether written or drawn or illustrated or spoken aloud, wherever I may be, in city or bush, in the bath, in bed or up a tree, for one hour on Tuesday 14 September 2021. I will read silently or aloud, I will read by myself or in a crowd. I will read a story that matters to me.”
Great! We’d love to keep you up to date with the latest news and events.