If you find (as I have done) that many of your adult ESL learners in Australia are also parents to young children, you might find this reading/discussion resource interesting to take into your classroom or offer up as a personal selection for students.
It's based on news just in (at the time of posting) about a 'spat' between the Federal and Victorian State governments about public kindergarten programs, how they are to be funded and what they will/should involve in terms of number of hours provided. The source is an article that appeared in today's The Age newspaper:
Funding spat puts kinder program in jeopardy
Here are the English Oz learning activities to go with it:
3_VPAU505_EL1_Funding_spat_puts_kinder_programs_in_jeopardy
3_VPAU505_EL1_TG_Funding_spat_puts_kinder_programs_in_jeopardy
It's a good issue to explore and has some great language to showcase.
Certificate III ESL (Access) components targeted and tracked through the activities:
Unit C24 (VPAU505): Read and write a range of straightforward informational, instructional and other texts.
Element 1: Analyse a range of informational texts
Performance Criteria 1.1: Scan informational text and identify the context and topic
Performance Criteria 1.2: Identify the main ideas or issues
Performance Criteria 1.3: Locate supporting information or examples
Performance Criteria 1.4: Identify conventions of informational texts
Performance Criteria 1.5: Analyse the structure and discourse features of the texts
Performance Criteria 1.6: Respond to the text, outlining any opinions expressed, and state own opinion about the topic
I would also imagine there are plenty of ways to integrate this with some conversation and/or writing elements from the same level.
The article and overall issue also provide a nice introduction or extenstion to four of the ESL Elective units, namely:
VPAM544 - Australian Government
VPAM546 - Education in Australia
VPAU557 - Use services in the local community
VPAU560 - Investigate current issues
;-)
