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The Australian Library and Information Association's submission to the Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian society places a central focus on digital and media literacy skills and abilities of Australians to effectively understand and use social media applications. It addresses the issue of the disparity of skill levels across different demographic and regional groups and the role of libraries to help address these gaps and provide digital access and literacy support. 
 
The submission makes the following recommendations:
1. The government implements a national approach to media literacy and media literacy education, with appropriate funding and support.
2. The Department of Industry, Regional Development, Transport, Communications and the Arts (DIRDTCA) and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner work with the Australian Library and Information Association and the Australian Media Literacy Alliance to support up-to-date materials and training options for library staff and education professionals in areas of digital and media literacy.
3. The government explores opportunities to work with the Australian Library and Information Association and partners to update and expand evidence-based media literacy programs, with emphasis on segments of the community with the highest needs.

The meeting was scheduled to be held following the close of Phase 1 of the consultation period which was designed to progress two of the recommendations made by the Advisory Committee following the Technical Report:
Recommendation 1: Develop a framework of knowledge, skills and ethical behaviour
Recommendation 3: Develop new professional pathways
 
The Advisory Board discussed the areas of general agreement and areas where more work needs to be done. The three main areas for further work are:
1. Framework structure and conceptual design
2. Recognition and categorisation
3. The question of mandatory/optional CPD

This is the Professional Pathways Consultation paper for the second phase of consultation that took place from May to July 2023.
The second phase of consultation was conducted online and submissions invited from all sectors, types of role, and ALIA membership category.

By-Law 1 of the Australian Library and Information Association as amended to August 2024, with amendments in mark up, followed by the clean updated copy.

The ALIA Code of Ethics for the Australian LIS Workforce shows how the core values of the library and information profession can be applied in practice. Action examples can be customised to suit library and information services environments and contexts.

This report examines adult media literacy abilities, needs and experiences in Australia. Between January and April 2024 a representative sample of 3,852 adult Australians were surveyed alongside additional booster samples for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australians and First Nations Australians. This survey repeated questions asked in our inaugural 2021 Adult Media Literacy survey to produce longitudinal data, while also introducing new questions that respond to pressing issues and new digital media developments.
 
Survey findings show that most adult Australians use different types of digital media on a regular basis, but their overall confidence in their digital media abilities is quite low, with very little change since 2021. For example, most adult Australians are not confident about their ability to identify false and misleading information online, create a video and post it online, edit a digital photo, change social media privacy settings, or seek help from relevant authorities if they are being harassed online.
 
The report finds that there is overwhelming demand among Australians for adult and school-based media literacy education. However, many Australians have not received any form of media literacy education or they don’t have access to support when they need it.
 
The report was attached to ALIA's submission for the Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence

Following ALIA's submission on the importance of AI inclusion and AI literacy, two further reports have been released which were brought to the committee’s attention. From the library perspective, these reports highlight current trends, where AI is increasingly integrated into daily life, and yet there continue to be deep divides within the general population in awareness, understanding and skills.  
 
The two reports submitted to the Committee are the Digital Sisters AI for Good Report and Adult Media Literacy in 2024: Australian attitudes, experiences and needs, both are linked below under 'Relation'.

The Australian Public Libraries Statistical Report is an annual project by the Australian Library and Information Association Australian Public Libraries Alliance (ALIA APLA) and National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) that identifies and measures usage and activities of Australia's public library services over the financial year. This report covers the statistics in the financial year 1 July 2022 – 30 June 2023.

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) recently surveyed school library assistant, library technician, librarian, and teacher librarian members working in school libraries to find out what they would like to see from the ALIA Schools Group and how they might like to engage.