Critical literacy continues to be a concept which is widely misused, mis-applied and misunderstood. Social commentators and politicians in particular use it to create unease about the way schools teach reading. However, a brief review of curriculum documents from six Australian State Education Departments demonstrates that in the private world of syllabus documents, critical literacy is embedded as a teaching tool which can enrich a reader's understanding of their world. This is contradicted by the public world of newspaper columnists and politicians, where critical literacy is framed as dangerous and lacking educational rigour.