Department store David Jones is partnering with the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) for the fourth year running, with the commencement of the ‘Literacy is Freedom’ campaign.

The campaign seeks to raise awareness of the Indigenous literacy gap nationwide, and will see all profits from a batch of limited-edition t-shirts donated to the ALNF’s literacy programs.

“David Jones is extremely proud to support the Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundations, an organisation making tangible and lasting change in Australian communities,” David Jones head of sustainability and good business journey Eloise Bishop said.

“Being able to read and write is a fundamental human right and we are proud to partner with ALNF and to use David Jones’ platform to highlight the problem and most importantly, be a part of the solution.”

The shirts have been created through partnerships with Australian brands Camilla, Viktoria & Woods, and Academy Brand.

David Jones ambassadors Adam Goodes and Jessica Gomes, as well as models Charlee Fraser and Teresa Palmer, former AFL player Tom Derickx, and Indigenous rapper and Young Australian of the Year Danzel Baker have all been enlisted to help to spread the message over the course of 2019 – the United Nations Year of Ingidenous Language.

“The Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation empowers whole communities by upskilling and providing qualifications for adults who are then able to provide literacy and numeracy support for their children and for future generations,” Adam Goodes said.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are three times less likely to meet the national minimum literacy and numeracy standards. Together with ALNF and David Jones, I’m proud to be helping young people read and write their way to a brighter future.”

The department store will also donate the profits for five classic children’s books – Diary of a Wombat, The Cat in the Hat, The Gruffalo, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

“Every dollar raised as part of the ‘Literacy is Freedom’ campaign has a lasting impact on Australian lives and will help us move closer towards closing the Indigenous literacy gap,” Bishop said.