Australia performed above the OECD average in an international assessment of young people’s financial literacy, ranking equal fifth out of the 15 participating countries and economies.
Released by the OECD as part of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, the study evaluated the financial literacy of 15 year olds from 15 countries, and their ability to understand and apply their knowledge to financial questions.
ASIC Deputy Chair Peter Kell noted that while Australia performed well, there is still work to be done.
‘We welcome these results, which show that Australian students’ average financial literacy ability compares well to the other countries that participated in the assessment. Encouragingly, 15 per cent of Australian students were high performers (above the OECD average of 12 percent)’, said Mr Kell.
‘That said, 20 per cent of Australian students were low performers. While this is better than the OECD average of 22 per cent, it indicates that there is more to be done in Australia to build financial literacy and capability at all levels of education.’
‘In an increasingly cashless society, it’s more important than ever that Australian students have the capacity to budget and manage their money through key life transitions such as their first job, starting university and moving out of home.’
Mr Kell also pointed to the important role that ASIC’s Money Smart Teaching Program has to play. ASIC’s MoneySmart Teaching program is the Australian Government’s national financial education program working across the formal education sector to support the development of greater financial capabilities in young Australians, in partnership with state and territory education departments.
‘One of our key tools in this area is ASIC’s MoneySmart Teaching Program which ASIC has been collaborating with states and territories to roll out to schools since 2012. An independent impact evaluation[1]shows that the Program’s focus on supporting teachers through professional development and quality classroom education resources is having a positive effect on teachers’ ability and confidence to deliver financial literacy education. This in turn is having a positive impact on student outcomes.’
MoneySmart Teaching tools and resources include 36 units of work aligned to the Australian Curriculum for Primary and Secondary schools, 16 hours of teaching professional learning modules and 83 digital resources. The latest MoneySmart Teaching resource, launched in March 2017, is Knowing Growing Showing, which supports teachers to deliver authentic and meaningful learning for Indigenous students.
‘There is something for everyone on the MoneySmart website, including teaching resources. All schools can benefit from the free resources and I would encourage everyone to find out if the schools in their communities are ‘MoneySmart’.
ASIC’s MoneySmart Teaching resources are available online at moneysmart.gov.au and material on the PISA results is available here.
