The Australian Government recognises that young Australians with languages skills and an understanding of international cultures are vital to our nation’s future in an increasingly global community.
Through the School Languages Programme (SLP) the Australian Government is providing $112 million over four years (2005 – 2008) to State and Territory education authorities to support the teaching and learning of Asian, European, Australian Indigenous languages and Auslan in schools and community language programmes in ethnic schools.
The National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005-2008 
, developed through the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) was endorsed by all Ministers of Education in March 2005. This Statement and Plan will provide greater coordination for languages education, including Indigenous and other community languages, across the country for this quadrennium.
From 2005, 5% of SLP funds (about $1.25 million per annum) are being set aside for national strategic projects in line with the National Statement and Plan for Languages Education in Australian Schools 2005 -2008. The MCEETYA Languages Education Working Party will guide the development of these projects. The working party held its first meeting in October 2005.
A range of national projects are currently being implemented. Information on these projects, including regular progress updates, is available on the MCEETYA Languages Education Working Party webpage.
The final reports of two national projects were released on 25 March 2008:
Investigation of the state and nature of languages in Australian schools
The objective of this project was to build on previous research to generate a comprehensive national picture of languages education, and recommend strategies to increase the effectiveness and quality of school-based languages programmes.
Review of teacher education for languages teachers
The objective of this project was to produce a comprehensive national picture of the nature and effectiveness of teacher education and re-training opportunities for languages teachers.
This exciting national professional learning programme funded at $2 million through the Australian Government Quality Teacher Programme will complement the national projects listed above.
The key objective of the Intercultural Language Teaching and Learning in Practice (ILTLP) project will be to develop languages teachers' knowledge and understanding of intercultural language teaching and learning, with a particular focus on long-term planning and programming, including the assessment and reporting of student outcomes. The ILTLP Project will build on the outcomes of the recently concluded Asian Languages Professional Learning Project .
The University of South Australia has been selected as the successful tenderer to manage this project. Project directors, Tony Liddicoat and Angela Scarino from the University’s Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education, will head up a team that includes expertise from University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology and the Australian National University.
A key feature of the ILTLP project will be supported school-based research and development undertaken by languages teachers. This research and development phase will yield validated exemplars in long-term programming, assessment processes and describing outcomes of intercultural language learning. These exemplars will be incorporated into the ILTLP professional learning materials.
The ILTLP programme will be conducted in all States and Territories in the 2007 school year. Priority will be given to meeting the specific needs of teachers of Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian and Japanese as the 6 languages which are most widely taught at Year 12 level in Australian schools. However the ILTLP will be applicable to teachers of all languages, in government and non-government primary and secondary schools, as well as those delivering programmes through Government Schools of Languages / Saturday Schools, Distance Education and ethnic or community language schools.