When Rosann Filiponne pops her headphones in to listen to an audiobook while she walks along the beach near her home in Mornington, she hopes she won’t get distracted. “I try listening to the story but I’m distracted by all the dogs, I have to stop and pat them all!”
The 63-year-old retired primary school teacher was an avid reader growing up and wants to read more now, but struggles to concentrate. A bad neck means she now also struggles to keep her head down in a book for very long. So she has turned to audiobooks. “[But] I start looking at the leaves blowing off the trees and my mind starts focusing on the tree or I start watching a bird.” Listening in bed isn’t any better: “I nod off and three chapters have gone by.”
In an ideal world, she says, she would read every day. “I’m retired, I’ve got no excuse that life is too busy. But, you have to get into the routine of reading – or listening.”
Rosann is one of thousands of Australians who are trying to get back into reading as a leisure activity. But we have blocks. We are distracted. We are not in the mood. Reading feels harder than scrolling or watching. We feel like we don’t have time, or can’t find the right book.
Australians have an “intention-behaviour gap”, according to new research from Monash University’s behaviour research unit BehaviourWorks Australia with non-profit Australia Reads. This means we want to read, but we stop ourselves from doing it.
“Feeling like you’re not in the mood can be a huge influence over whether we read in our leisure time or not,” says Dr Breanna Wright, a behavioural scientist at Monash University. “We might feel we read a lot at work or we’re tired and reading might feel effortful, rather than leisurely.”
Recreational reading rates in Australia are in decline, as they are in many other countries – recent research in the National Arts Participation survey from Creative Australia found almost 30% of Australians have not read or listened to a single book in a year. In 2023 the ABS reported a 7% decrease in young people reading, when compared with 2017 data. Research from Deakin University into teen reading correlates with these findings, as does the Australia Reads National Reading Survey from 2021.
The new research conducted by BehaviourWorks, based on a survey of 1,622 Australians aged over 16, has found just under 50% of Australians regularly read for enjoyment, compared to 80% who watch movies or TV for pleasure. Both readers (54.9%) – those who had read at least one book in the past 12 months – and non-readers (49.8%) reported they read less than they intended. Only 17% of readers listed it as the hobby they dedicated the most time to.
Monash’s research identified six types of readers: avid, those with no barriers to reading (22.4%); engaged readers, who struggle with distractions (30.6%); ambivalent readers, who read infrequently and don’t prioritise it (14.8%); aspirational readers, who want to read more but struggle with distractions, motivation or time (14.7%); lapsed readers who used to read more, but have lost interest, motivation or time (7.1%); and uninterested non-readers (10.4%). Some differences emerged within these groups – avid readers are more likely to enjoy mysteries and use libraries, for instance.
“The barriers are mostly competing priorities when it comes to leisure,” says Dr Wright. “So we need to make books easy, available and visible. This could be finding a book equivalent of binge-watching – an easy book with a strong hook that engages you within minutes.”
Aside from shorter, easier books, other solutions suggested in the study include focusing on the enjoyment a book brings, rather than stressing over whether it is impressive to others; turning to book subscription services, social media, librarians or booksellers for recommendations if you struggle to decide or even don’t enjoy browsing; and even simply making books or e-readers more visible in your everyday life.
“Think about how often we have our phones in our hands or in our bag – try putting a book nearby so you can grab it with your bag to head out to the train. Have a pile of books visible in your home, near your bed or lounge,” says Dr Wright.
Shepparton resident Chloe Warburton, 37, describes herself as “an every day reader”: horror, crime, psychological thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy are her go-tos, and having bookish friends helps her keep up the habit. But working in a nine-to-five that requires a lot of reading and writing means she sometimes struggles to be the avid bookworm she wants to be.
“Some days I find I really have to push myself to make time for it,” she says. “Some days it’s easier to sit on the couch and doom scroll than it is to pick up a book.”
But a recent purchase of an e-reader has helped. “I was getting sick of having to hold up a heavy book,” she says. “When it’s a 700-pager and you’ve got to hold the damn thing open, it can get a bit uncomfortable. The e-reader really made a big difference for me, much more than I thought it would.”
Her advice to readers who want to read more? “Don’t place expectations on yourself about what you should be reading. Just read what makes you happy.”
Anna Burkey, head of Australia Reads said the Monash study was “heartening” as it reflected the value most Australians place on reading, even if they struggle to do it. “Overall, we love our books!” she said. “We just need a bit of help to fit reading into our daily habits.”
“Reading has remarkable benefits, in these disconnected times – it helps us understand ourselves and others around us, it reduces our stress – and readers even live longer.”
