AJAL promotes critical thinking and research in the field of adult learning as well as the theory, research and practice of adult and community education. It has been published for over fifty years and covers a wide range of topics of interest to those in adult education.

For the past five years the number of female contributors to the Journal has been approximately double that of men. And Australian contributors have been about twice as many as international contributors. The contributions in this issue’s refereed section reflect that. Except that, all the authors in this issue are women. Two of the papers are directly concerned with Australian education, one is focused on South Africa, and the other two papers are about Australian educators’ collaboration with colleagues in the Asia Pacific region.

AJAL is free for members of Adult Learning Australia.

Authors: Barbara Pamphilon and Katja Mikhailovich – University of Canberra, Australia

The paper details a community education approach to working with Papua New Guinea women smallholder farmers and aimed to develop planning and farming practices that were more gender-equitable while taking into account existing cultural and gender sensitivities. Read more

Authors: Digna Adonis and Jen Couch – Australian Catholic University, Australia

This paper also address issues of collaboration and post-colonial education work. It is an account of the many barriers, physical, social, cultural and psychological, that Indigenous people have to overcome in order to attend university, persevere with and complete their study. Read more

Nomazulu Ngozwana – University of South Africa, South Africa

An evaluation of whether offenders are consulted when planning rehabilitation and the implications for offenders' rehabilitation and reintegration into their societies. Read more

Authors: Sandra Elsom, Ruth Greenaway and Margareth Marshman – University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

The researchers investigate the experiences of a group of non-traditional students undertaking a tertiary preparation program at a satellite campus of a regional university. Read more

Author: Annette Morante, Valerie Djenidi, Helene Clark and Susan West – Newcastle University, Australia

Their paper examines two subjects, Mathematics and History, in the online Open Foundation program, to investigate the engagement of male and female students. Read more

Author: Barrie Brennan - Australia

In the non-refereed section of this issue, this contribution provides a reflection on Continuing Professional Education (CPE) in Australia. Read more