Current Education Department Handwriting Syllabuses:
Click on the links below to download the most recent official Education Department handwriting syllabus materials for your region. These downloads are free. If you find that any of these links no longer work please let us know. The copyright in these resources is with the original creators and publishers.
- Victoria
7 MB
Extracts from "The Teaching of Handwriting - Revised Edition". Department of Education and Training, Victoria and free fonts. IMPORTANT note that the letter "f" in the free fonts available on the Vic Education Department site is incorrect according the the VIc Handwriting syllabus (doesn't extend below the baseline). - Qld (syllabus)
1 MB
"The Teaching of Handwriting: a Handbook" Queensland Education Department. - Qld (resources)
31 MB
Note: The QLD Education Department fonts available from this link are quite old and so may not work with current computer operating systems, especially Windows 10. The PDF resources contain detailed descriptions of letter formation. - Tasmania
3 MB
"Handwriting" Education Department, Tasmania (2020 update). Other useful resources are available from this same location, see – Handwriting Cursive Alphabet chart (PDF, 285 KB), Handwriting Beginners Alphabet chart (PDF, 421 KB), Handwriting Capital Alphabet chart (PDF, 216 KB).
- New South Wales
2711 kBExtract from "Writing K-12" NSW Department of Education. "Chapter VI – Handwriting: Teaching the Foundation Approach". Also used in Australian Capital Territory and some schools in Western Australia and Victoria.
- South Australia
6958 kB"Handwriting in the South Australian Curriculum". Also used by some schools in Western Australia.
- New Zealand
1258 kB"Teaching Handwriting". New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Graphity! Free Resources & Information:
- Coloured Dotted-Thirds GT_v2.1
1304 kBEasy instructions for achieving custom and /or coloured dotted-thirds behind your letters in Microsoft Word (Mac and Windows). Useful for VIC, SA and TAS users who wish to have the exact dotted-thirds used in the syllabus documents for their State. Instructions apply to any application that supports text boxes. Updated for latest Word version (Mac and Windows). Note: the keystrokes described in this document will work only with fonts from Australian School Fonts.
- Dotted-Thirds and Slope Lines GT_v2.0
130 kBA guide to the keystrokes for the standard Dotted-Thirds as recommended by each State's handwriting syllabus as well as commonly found alternate Dotted-Thirds. This document also gives the keystrokes for the Slope Lines character in each of our fonts. Note: the keystrokes described in this document will work only with fonts from Australian School Fonts.
481 kBShows the six current handwriting styles taught in Australia and New Zealand schools and available from Australian School Fonts.
- GT Australian School Fonts Info_v2.1
763 kBInformation about Australian School Fonts™, including samples of all the styles available for each of the six regional areas.
- GT Custom Keyboard Layout Installation_v1.1
106 kBInstructions for installing the Australian Aboriginal GT and Phonetic Latin GT custom keyboard layout software (Mac & Windows) for use with our Tight Text GT fonts and our Beginner Regular & Thick fonts.
163 kBHow to install your fonts on Windows, MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android and Linux. Includes the essential steps to follow when upgrading to a new version of the same font which has the same name as the old version.
- GT Lettershape Comparison_v4.0
186 kBDocument that allows easy cross-comparison of the basic lettershapes from each of the six regional areas.
- GT Standard Licence Agreement_v4.0
90 kBStandard Licence Agreement (EULA) applying to all items purchased from this website.
- Installing Fonts in iOS/iPadOS using AnyFont app
299 kBInstructions for using the third-party app AnyFont (available from the Apple app store https://apps.apple.com/au/app/anyfont/id821560738) to install fonts on your iPhone, iPad or iPod. (Thanks to Maria McKenzie). See also https://thesweetsetup.com/custom-fonts-on-ios-using-anyfont/
- Licence Price List_Dec 2016
309 kBThe current price list for all of our Licences except for our Publishing and Web Licences which are quoted on application. Includes our current Site Licence fees and conditions. This document replaces and supercedes all earlier price lists.
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The above Graphity! resources are free but they are still strictly protected by copyright (© Graphity! 2001-2024). These files may not be redistributed by any means (eg download from a website) which imposes any financial barrier or actual cost on the recipient. If these files are made available free on or via another website then the original source www.australianschoolfonts.com.au must be explicitly acknowledged.
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Other Resources:
Writeboards® worksheets, templates and clear reusable handwriting practice/tracing boards.
The Writeboards® website at www.writeboards.com.au uses our Australian School Fonts handwriting fonts exclusively to create their vast range of Worksheets and Templates – over 2100 different items are available for each State. Site Licences providing access to these resources are available for schools and professionals to purchase here. Click below to see and download samples of the Writeboards resources in each of the five Australian styles:
- NSW/ACT
5117 kB - QLD
5084 kB - SA
5101 kB - TAS
5099 kB - VIC/WA/NT
5123 kB
Letter Form Assessment Version 2 (LFA) by Karen Ray – University of Newcastle (FREE Download)
The Letter Form Assessment Version 2 (LFA) is an individual, standardised, performance-based assessment that has been developed to measure handwriting fluency acquisition for children who are learning to write, or have difficulties with handwriting acquisition. The LFA evaluates handwriting fluency acquisition for beginning writers, and is validated for children who have had an introduction to letter names, sounds and forms and who are at least in the first year of formal schooling (in Australia, this foundation year is known as kindergarten, preparatory, reception, or transition). Administration of the LFA follows a standard procedure, which can be learnt by completing the training module in the User Instructions and Training Module document (Section 5). Administration of the assessment takes between five and ten minutes. The LFA was devised and developed in Australia and can be used for any alphabetic font both in Australia and inter-nationally. The videos and audio must be used in conjunction with the LFA User Instructions and Training Module document, in order to learn to administer the assessment correctly. Click here to download these free LFA resources from the University of Newcastle site.
The Australian National Curriculum/The Future of Handwriting
- Australia's National Curriculum regarding a handwriting style
317 kBArticle from the Teach This (Staffroom) website Sept 2011 regarding the possibility of an Australian national handwriting style soon.
- Australia's National Curriculum
481 kBAnother article from the Teach This (Staffroom) website Aug 2011 regarding the possibility of an Australian national handwriting style.
- Teachers lament faltering pens
737 kBArticle from Sydney Morning Herald site 6th March 2012 regarding declining standards of student’s handwriting in Australian schools.
Go to the original article here.
- Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
The official website of Australia’s independent authority responsible for the development of a national curriculum, a nationalassessment program and a national data collection and reporting program that supports 21st century learning for Australianstudents. This is the body that will utimately make a decision about a uniform national handwriting style if there is to be one. - The Future of Handwriting (thenextweb.com)
"From the ancient scripts of Sumerian 3,000 years BC, through the dawn of the Greek alphabet and onto the ballpoint-toting, crossword-puzzling of the 20th century, handwriting has played a massive part in the development of the human race. Long before Gutenberg arrived on the scene in the fifteenth century with his fancy printing press, people were penning everything from prayers and poems to mantras and memoirs. And everything in between. Even after the proliferation of print, the humble pen continued to flourish. History owes a lot to the literates who, entirely off their own steam, chose to document the times they lived in. Without people such as Samuel Pepys, there would be huge caverns in our knowledge of major events that happened in relatively recent history. But over the past couple of decades, there has been a tangible shift away from ink and lead-based inscription, into digital representations of this thing we call language." - ACARA – Framework for Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages (December 2015)
The draft Framework is deliberately designed to cater for the 250 or more Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Islander languages of Australia, irrespective of the ecology of each language, whether it is currently used for everyday communication, or being revitalised, or one of the many creo le languages that have arisen through language contact in Australia. The draft Framework provides both important guidance and necessary flexibility for the develop ment of language-specific programs for any Aboriginal language or Torres Strait Islander language. - Does Handwriting Have a Future? (ABC Radio National - Future Tense)
Handwriting, according to some, is an anachronism. Finland has now dropped it from its national curriculum. And so many American states have also removed it as an educational requirement that it now only makes news when state officials opt to keep it. According to the detractors, writing by hand no longer has a place in an age where people type and thumb their way using smart phones and computers. But others, including many psychologists, believe cursive writing still has an important role to play in cognitive development, particularly when it comes to memory. In this episode, we hear the case for and against the retention of handwriting. And we also speak with Clive Thompson, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, who’s look beyond text and type to the next stage of communication. He calls it ‘voice writing’. (Originally broadcast on 6 September 2015). - What does Handwriting Do for our Brain? (ABC Radio National - Life Matters)
As the world becomes increasingly digitised, writing by hand can seem totally archaic. But research shows that putting pen to paper brings far more cognitive benefit than is often assumed. What might happen if handwriting becomes a lost art? Guest: Dr Deborah Pino-Pasternak, Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education with an expertise in handwriting education, University of Canberra. (Originally broadcast on Thursday 3rd August 2023).
