Plain Language Day: Introduction to accessible content

Is your message getting through? 

44% of Australian adults live with low literacy, and struggle with everyday reading tasks from bus timetables to recipes. That means your carefully created consumer engagement materials may be missing the mark.

Join us for Plain Language Day to get some tips and resources to expand your reach with Easy English, the most accessible text format. Discover what Easy English is, why it matters, and how it can help your message reach the people who need it most.

When:    Monday, 13 October 2025

Where:   Online via Zoom

Time:     12:00 noon - 12:30 pm Melbourne time (AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

Cost:      Free

Suitable for people working in community engagement, marketing and communications, or community education in health, safety, or any other field.

Bookings
Confirm your registration using the Humanitix 'Get tickets' tab. We will send you a zoom link 2 days before the start of the event.

About your presenter
Cathy Basterfield is founder and owner of Access Easy English.

Cathy is a trained Speech Pathologist, with more than 35 years’ experience.

She has a national and international reputation in the development of Easy English.

Cathy is acknowledged by her peers as a highly experienced practitioner in the field of Easy English.

She is recognised as being at the forefront of the development of Easy English in Australia, being one of the first practitioners in this specialist field nearly 20 years ago. This includes the development of quality standards and benchmarks for Easy English and writing the first and subsequent guidelines for writing Easy English.  This is the basis of quality evidence-based best-practice Easy English. Find out how it is different to Easy Read.  Cathy was involved in discussions on the Technical Standard 37 for Plain Language which preceded the practical guidance released last year.

Cathy was awarded a Victorian Government Ethel Temby scholarship for an investigative study into international trends and accreditation for Easy English writing and publications in 2011. Cathy is a published author,  an invited plenary speaker and a regular presenter at many other conferences on this subject matter.

Cathy and her team are recognised for their Easy English work with multiple national and international awards:

• International Zero Project Shortlist for 2023

• International Global Award 2022 – Most Outstanding Communicator for People with Disability in the World

• Australian National Enablement Award 2022 - Most Outstanding Communicator in the NDIS Sector

• APAC Insider Small Business Award 2022 for our Easy English training

• Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI ) – COVIDSafe Business Community Award Finalist 2022. For our pro bono COVID19 content development.

See more at www.accesseasyenglish.com.au