Australian Society of Authors
February 18, 2026
We know reading rates in Australia are declining, but what can you do as an author to help more Australians embrace reading culture? Read the key insights from our recent event with Australia Reads CEO, Anna Burkey, and Australian author and marketer Karina May, who explored the types of Australian readers and their reading habits, and what you need to know about the Australia Reads and BehaviourWorks report Understanding Australian readers: Behavioural insights into recreational reading.
The stats: Reading in crisis
Reading rates in Australia are falling, with 44% of Australians struggling with low or very low literacy and the number of Australians reading for pleasure decreasing (72% in 2019 vs 69% in 2022). Australia Reads’ mission is to change this by getting more people reading, more often, using research into reading behaviour to drive meaningful social change.
A cornerstone of this research is the Understanding Australian readers: Behavioural insights into recreational reading report, which breaks readers down into the following segments:
- Avid readers (22.4%)
- Engaged readers (30.6%)
- Ambivalent readers (14.8%)
- Aspirational readers (14.7%)
- Lapsed readers (7.1%)
- Uninterested non-readers (10.4%)
While the book industry is very good at communicating and marketing to avid readers, the greatest opportunity for change lies in the aspirational readers segment. In fact, the good news is that many Australians wish they read more, with 54.9% of readers and 49.8% of non-readers indicating they read less than they intend to. It is up to the book industry, including authors, to help try to bridge the behaviour gap between the intent to read and the action of reading.
