ACTA has developed a Position Paper and Fact Sheet in response to the adoption of synthetic phonics approaches to early literacy by education authorities across Australia.
The Position Paper examines key issues specifically regarding EAL/D learners, using six commercial resources in wide use in Australian schools as its evidence base. The Paper is now in its 7th iteration following widespread consultation with ACTA members and others. An earlier version of the Paper was launched at a colloquium during the ACTA International Conference on 3 October. This revised version (dated 19/10/2026) has an extensively redrafted Executive Summary, Introduction and Conclusion, section 4.3 (which was unfortunately omitted in the 3 October version) and redrafted sections 2.2.2, 2.2.3 and 6.
Please discard any earlier version of the paper that you may have downloaded.