This paper discusses the results achieved by Australia in the initial report on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The German reaction to a low score for German students is described. Three responses to PISA reading literacy results in Australia are described. These include: pragmatic use of the PISA reading literacy results at a national level; retrieving information from the international study and using it to create a benchmark for reading literacy for fifteen year-olds in Australia; and, using what has been learnt about reading literacy to question, evaluate and perhaps modify the way that reading literacy is taught in Australia.