ABSTRACT
The Australian Government itself has no considered approach to adult education, although it occasionally scatters a few dollars over the continent for such programmes as literacy and basic education. There are very sound reasons for the existence of a number of adult education international organizations, and the extraordinary altruism of many who founded, or who work in, them is widely recognized. It would be too easy to discuss international organizations on the strength of a couple of anecdotes. The justification for such organizations rests on far firmer ground: the need for international co-operation across a range of important issues in adult education; the need to have routes by which to address international issues, but which bypass the normal political processes. If international organizations become obsessed with structures and procedures, the possibilities for action, on either a regional or global scale, diminish accordingly.
