Community‑based adult learning and education structures, such as community learning centres and comparable models, exist in many parts of the world and are increasingly recognised as inclusive, flexible, and locally grounded providers of lifelong learning (Belete et al., 2022). Globally, UNESCO’s Fifth Global Report on Adult Learning and Education highlights that such structures remain underfunded and unevenly accessible, with migrants, older adults, and disadvantaged learners among the least likely to participate (UNESCO, 2022). Similar trends are identified in Europe, where the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) reports persistent funding precarity, labour‑market dominance in policy agendas, and limited recognition of community providers’ wider social mission.

In the Australian context, Adult Community Education (ACE) is understood as a distinctive “fourth sector” of education: a community‑owned, not‑for‑profit and learner‑centred system committed to accessibility and social inclusion (Billet & Dymock, 2020). In the State of Victoria, 200‑plus Learn Local providers collectively support nearly 30,000 learners annually through provision in English as an Additional Language (EAL), literacy, numeracy, digital skills and employability (Ollis & Foley, 2023). While recent policy attention signals renewed interest in strengthening this sector (DET, 2019), funding remains uneven and episodic. This precarity limits opportunities for sustained professional development and pedagogical innovation, echoing concerns raised internationally.

This presentation contributes to this international conversation through an in‑depth qualitative study of language and intercultural education in community‑based adult learning settings: an area that remains noticeably under‑researched.

The study took place in the state of Victoria, Australia, in 2025 and was supported by a VicTESOL research grant. Conducted in two informal community learning centres, one located in an inner‑city area and one in an outer‑metropolitan region, the research employed a qualitative design. Data collection comprised sustained classroom observations of English language programs, semi‑structured interviews with educators and managers, and analysis of curriculum materials and organisational documents. Thematic analysis was used to examine how intercultural values are interpreted and enacted in practice, how learners’ plurilingual resources are mobilised within classroom interaction, and how policy, funding, and accountability pressures shape pedagogical decision‑making.

Findings reveal creative, relational, and locally responsive pedagogies that foster belonging and agency, alongside structural constraints such as resource shortages, limited professional learning, and misalignment between intercultural aims and narrow metrics. This presentation argues for greater recognition of community educators as knowledge producers and for policy approaches that draw on their situated expertise, strengthening the capacity of non formal providers to contribute meaningfully to how we know and act in education.

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