Health literacy — the ability to obtain, understand, and use health information to make good health decisions — profoundly affects health outcomes. Australians with low health literacy have worse chronic disease management, use emergency services more, and die earlier. Approximately 60% of Australians have health literacy challenges. Low health literacy is highest among older people, people from CALD backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people with lower education. Grant funding supports health literacy programmes, plain language materials, health-literate health systems, and the community education that helps Australians navigate a complex health system.
The scale
Impact of low health literacy
Who has lowest health literacy
Department of Health
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC)
National Prescribing Service (NPS MedicineWise)
Medicines information in accessible formats.
The Health Consumers Alliance
Consumer health advocacy and health literacy.
Cancer Council Australia
Cancer information and literacy.
NPS MedicineWise
Medicines literacy and safe use.
The Public Health Association of Australia
Health literacy advocacy.
Multicultural health services
Community-specific health literacy.
Plain language materials
Health literate health services
Cancer literacy
Medicines literacy
CALD health literacy
Indigenous health literacy
Digital health literacy
Medication management
Mental health literacy
Research
In the age of social media, health misinformation — about vaccines, cancer treatment, COVID-19 — has become a major public health threat. Health literacy includes the ability to critically evaluate health claims and identify misinformation.
Grant funding for:
- Digital health literacy (evaluating online health information)
- Anti-misinformation resources
- Training health professionals to address misinformation with patients
- Research on health misinformation spread
System-level change
Individual health literacy programmes help individuals; making health systems health literate — plain language materials, clear communication, navigation support — helps everyone. Applications that change health system practice are more scalable.
CALD communities
Language barriers are a major health literacy challenge. Applications with translated materials and bilingual workers specifically address CALD health literacy — not just health literacy in general.
Technology
As healthcare becomes increasingly digital (My Health Record, telehealth, health apps), digital health literacy becomes critical. Applications that address digital health literacy alongside general health literacy are more contemporary.
Medicines
Medication errors are common and often linked to health literacy. Applications addressing medicines literacy — particularly for older adults on multiple medications — are high-impact.
Tahua's grants management platform supports health literacy funders and consumer health organisations — with programme participant tracking, knowledge outcome measurement, community reach data, and the reporting tools that help health literacy funders demonstrate their investment in empowering Australians to navigate and benefit from the health system.