What is Drop the Jargon Day?

Drop the Jargon is an initiative that brings attention to the language used by workers in the health and human services sector, that is often not understood by their clients. It is a day for professionals in Australian health, community services and local government to use PLAIN LANGUAGE. Since its inception, it’s reached thousands of dedicated practitioners and organisations throughout Australia who have pledged to Drop the Jargon in their workplaces.

It started in 2014, when organisations interested in clear communication were looking to build on the work they had done at the Centre for Culture, Ethnicity & Health as graduates of the Health Literacy Course. Thanks to this enthusiasm and our aim to reduce health inequalities & improve health outcomes for people from migrant & refugee backgrounds, Drop the Jargon (DTJ) was born, an annual campaign marking HEALTH LITERACY MONTH * in October.

During the COVID-19 pandemic with ever changing information it’s important that all Australians have access to not only accurate health and well-being information but also easy to understand information, regardless of what language they speak. Dropping the Jargon to this effect is now more important than ever.

*(Health Literacy Month Celebrating 20 years of health literacy in 2020, this is a time for organizations and individuals to promote the importance of understandable health information. This annual, awareness-raising event has been going strong ever since Helen Osborne founded it in 1999 (https://healthliteracymonth.org/)