The Australian Association for the Teaching of English Inc (AATE) is a national nonprofit organization representing English teachers and affiliated state and territory English teaching associations across Australia. It serves as the umbrella body coordinating professional support, advocacy, and resources for English educators at the national level.

History

AATE was established in September 1964 through the initiative of Peter B. McDonald, then President of the South Australian English Teachers Association. The original founding members were representatives from New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, and Victoria. Queensland and the Northern Territory joined a few years thereafter.

Structure and Affiliations

AATE operates as the national arm for state and territory English teaching associations. Members of these regional organizations pay an affiliation fee that grants them membership with AATE, creating a unified national network. The affiliated state and territory associations are:

• English Teachers Association of Queensland (ETAQ)
• English Teachers Association of New South Wales
• ACT Association for the Teaching of English
• Victorian Association for the Teaching of English
• Tasmanian Association for the Teaching of English
• South Australian English Teachers Association
• English Teachers Association of Western Australia
• English Teachers' Association of the Northern Territory

ETAQ, for example, represents around 3,000 teachers, pre-service teachers, and teacher educators in Queensland and supports members through professional development, advocacy, and networking opportunities.

Objectives and Activities

AATE advocates on behalf of its members and contributes to public debate on the teaching of English in Australia. It works to maintain and improve the quality of English teaching through professional learning, resources, and responses to educational issues. Through its affiliated associations, AATE supports teachers with conferences, seminars, forums, webinars, and publications.

Publications

AATE publishes several key resources including:

• English in Australia, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal
• The AATE Interface Series (published by Wakefield Press)
• Golden Stories Anthology and The Artful English Teacher, both resources for English educators

These publications contribute to professional scholarship and classroom practice in English education.

Significance

As the national body for English educators, AATE links teachers from across Australia into an international network committed to language and literacy education. Its history, structure, and ongoing activities foster professional development and influence educational policy and curriculum related to the teaching of English at all levels.

This overview is based on information from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and publicly available resources about AATE and its affiliated organizations[1][2][4][5].

[1] https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/0720b9e5-38af-e811-a963-000d3ad244fd [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Association_for_the_Teaching_of_English [3] https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities/bae86cff-5eda-e811-a967-000d3ad064bd [4] https://www.etaq.org.au/about.html [5] https://www.education.net.au/education/AUSTRALIAN-ASSOCIATION-FOR-THE-TEACHING-OF-ENGLISH/2943/