Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, the Hon Bernie Ripoll MP, will this week (Thursday 9 August) launch a new teaching resource that will help young Australians become more confident, informed and responsible financial consumers.
The MoneySmart Teaching Primary Package, developed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), will be unveiled in Adelaide on Thursday at a national MoneySmart teachers conference for primary schools.
Developed by teachers for teachers, the MoneySmart Teaching primary and secondary packages will be trialled in over 90 schools nationally and aims to embed consumer and financial literacy education into the new Australian Curriculum for students from Foundation to Year 10. Professional learning will be provided to at least 6,000 primary and secondary teachers.
Mr Ripoll said that ensuring young people know how to handle money from an early age, and have the skills and knowledge to make informed choices about their finances, was critical to their long-term wellbeing and the future wellbeing of the Australian economy.
"Young people are growing up in a fast-paced consumer society where money is becoming increasingly 'invisible' and where there's a growing range of choice and complexity in consumer and financial products.
"The MoneySmart Teaching packages provide effective consumer and financial education, empowering young people to face these challenges. It's never too early to be MoneySmart" he said.
The package for primary school teachers is part of the $10 million Helping Our Kids Understand Finances (HOKUF) initiative to improve financial literacy in schools, announced by the Gillard Government in 2010. A suite of online professional learning modules for teachers will supplement the package extending the reach of MoneySmart Teaching beyond those schools in the trial.
"MoneySmart Teaching will allow teachers to integrate consumer and financial literacy across the curriculum, ensuring young people have the knowledge and skills to confidently manage their finances throughout life", said Mr Ripoll.
"The Australian Government is proud to be driving this initiative. We're also delighted that five states and territories have entered into a national partnership with ASIC to deliver the professional learning to teachers and establish our MoneySmart Schools," he said.
The package has been developed through strong collaboration from education officials with the shared goal of supporting teachers and students. This has been undertaken through a national partnership agreement with New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT.
While not all jurisdictions were able to partner with ASIC, permission has been given by the relevant education departments for ASIC to work directly with schools and teachers so that there is a fair and consistent national approach.
ASIC is also developing a range of online and digital resources for students to supplement the MoneySmart Teaching units. These age-specific, interactive learning modules will engage students in a fun way with real life money situations. Resources will be available on the MoneySmart Teaching website.
Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, said the MoneySmart teaching package supports the work done by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) on a new national economics and business curriculum.
"The draft paper, Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business, is currently open for public consultation and ACARA will use feedback on the paper to guide the writing of the draft Australian Business and Economics Curriculum later this year," Mr Garrett said.
MoneySmart Teaching resources for secondary schools are expected to be launched around December 2012.
7 August 2012