Only 12 per cent of Australian 15-year-olds are able to read at an advanced level with children from poor families 10 times more likely to have deficient reading ability compared to their richer peers.

A report from the Grattan Institute says Australia is in the midst of a reading crisis. A third of children cannot read at the level expected of them at their age and too often when they fall behind, there are few or inadequate measures to help get them back to where they should be.