Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week is Dyslexia Empowerment Week, and, last weekend on Sunday, I joined my state parliamentary colleague Maree Edwards in Bendigo at the beginning of Dyslexia Empowerment Week, our BOLD walk. The walk was organised by BOLD to bring people together to share stories about what it means to have dyslexia, to talk about support services but, more importantly, to raise awareness of what it means to live with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is still an area of the unknown. We do not yet have the research or the science to tell us why it is that people with dyslexia struggle. We do not know why it is that somebody with dyslexia may be thinking of the word 'cat' and saying the word 'cat' but then write the word 'dog'. We know that it is something to do with the brain, but we have not yet had the research or the dollars to unpack what is going on. So this week, being Dyslexia Empowerment Week, we call on the government to do more to help people with dyslexia—to fund the research so that we can properly find out what is going on. This research will then help inform education. For dyslexic people to get ahead and have the same opportunities to achieve as any other Australian, resourcing for schools is critical.

Dyslexics are well known. People have spoken up about overcoming this disorder and going on to do great things. Albert Einstein is quite often referred to as a famous dyslexic. Richard Branson and Tom Cruise are quite often referred to as famous dyslexics. They are people who have dyslexia who have made it in life and are willing to speak out about their early challenges in life. We know that for a lot of people with dyslexia what makes the difference is education in those early years. Quite a lot of people with dyslexia will tell you that they do not quite remember when they learnt to read; it just happened. That is where our schools need the resources. That is why, in Dyslexia Empowerment Week, I call on this government to restore the funding to our schools, and put the money back in through the Gonski package to ensure that our schools have the resources and the teacher aides that they need to help all students with dyslexia.

It is a disorder that can be overcome with the right resourcing and support in the early years and throughout their lives. We can have the next community leaders—the next Tom Cruises, Richard Bransons and Albert Einsteins—if this government gets serious about funding and support for schools and about making sure that every school, regardless of post code, has the resources that they need. Dyslexia Empowerment Week is a chance for all of us to remember the importance of proper school funding and making sure every school has the resources that they need to help students with dyslexia.