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This Article in question.

Do Australians still use the Spelling Reform 1 (SR1) officially or unofficially?

It calls for the short /ɛ/ sound (as in bet) to always be spelt with E.

said→sed, jeopardy→jepardy, bury→bery, etc.

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"Still use"? Realistically, did they ever? – FumbleFingers Jul 7 '11 at 14:32
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Agreed, the Wikipedia article is questionable. I've lived in Australia for 32 years and never seen SR1 in use. – Rob Keniger Jul 7 '11 at 14:35
SR1 was 'championed' by the Australian Teachers' Federation, which, depending on your viewpoint either became defunct or was merged into the Australian Teachers Union in 1991. Back in 1975 it did ask the government to endorse small-scale trials of SR1, but I doubt anything like that ever actually took place. – FumbleFingers Jul 7 '11 at 14:39
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The trouble with spelling that follows pronunciation is that pronunciation varies from place to place. – GEdgar Jul 7 '11 at 15:50
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@Joe Blow: if you vandalize it someone will change it back. If you make good edits they will stay. I made a lot and they were never reversed. Anyway, staying on-topic, I don't see any evidence whatsoever on that page that says Australians use the SR1 spelling reform. It just says that SR1 had some success in Australia and quotes a 25 year old book... – nico Jul 7 '11 at 20:29
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2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

I live in Australia and I should know. No, it was never in wide usage, because I have lived here quite some time, and I have never seen it.

This simple spelling reform has been adopted widely by Australians.

Really? I think it's because Wikipedia can be edited simply just by anyone, not too much credence should be placed on some of its articles. Personally, "adopted widely" is a "figment of imagination" to me, and I have never seen it, unless it was by someone illiterate.

The Australian Teachers' Federation might have adopted this policy, but you can see by this link that they ceased to exist in 1987.

So, I hope that answers your question.

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As I said in the other comment, that is a quote from a 1985 book... – nico Jul 7 '11 at 19:48
By the way, just to let all folks know, I have edited the Wikipedia page so that it is in keeping with the Australian Trade Unions Archives. Cheers! – Thursagen Jul 8 '11 at 3:31
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Mate, the article is simply rubbish.

Note that the first paragraph of the article contains the sentence:

It had some success in Australia...

It's simply wrong, and silly. Ask any Aussie. As Ham already pointed out, the next sentence is also at best misleading.

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protected by F'x Jul 8 '11 at 20:05

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