Financial literacy in teen leads to better financial decisions

Oksana Patron

14 March 2023

CA ANZ has welcomed the announcement to develop the Treasurer’s Financial Literacy Challenge for girls and boys in Years 11 and 12.

Through the program, which complements the new NSW curriculum content on financial literacy, students will be able to undertake the modules as part of their in-class learning, or in their own time, that will cover several important areas, including:

• Superannuation and tax
• Automation/technology and finance • Entrepreneurship / starting a business
• Financial literacy tools (e.g. Excel)

Once they complete all modules, students will receive a certificate as proof of their Financially Literate status, and a digital certificate to attach to CVs when attempting to enter the workforce for the first time.

“Learning financial literacy now means young adults are in a better position to make good financial decisions, particularly later in life and can even stimulate interest in exciting careers in accounting and finance,” CA ANZ CEO Ainslie van Onselen, said.

“The interactive Financial Literacy program will give students exposure to topics they’ll need to be across in order to enter the workforce, buy a house, start a business or choose their super fund.”

“The modules will be designed in a way to be interactive and based on real life examples that they are likely to encounter, as opposed to academic theory they may struggle to engage with.

“As the leading representative body for the profession and the only body that has FEE-HELP enabled for our courses thanks to our TEQSA (Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency) accreditation, CA ANZ has the technical expertise to assist in the delivery of this program,” she said.

“We are already playing in this space and have developed materials that are easy to understand and implement, such as our High-School Took Kit, and we stand ready to work with other State, and the Federal Government, in rolling out similar programs across Australia.”