High school fin literacy for Aussies
Monday, 10 November 2008 12:10pm
Insurance and super will soon be explained to high school students via a new government and ASIC-led financial literacy resource.
Senator Nick Sherry, minister of superannuation and corporate law and Tony D'Aloisio, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) chairman, last week announced a new financial literacy program designed to help young Australians who are making decisions about insurance and superannuation.
The new program is called Your Money Starter - Insurance and Super: a financial literacy resource for secondary schools, which includes interactive online games. It is already being distributed to every secondary school in Australia.
The package includes an interactive animated movie about super, a game about buying a car and choosing insurance cover, and teaching units for Middle Secondary years, among others.
"Your Money Starter has been designed to enhance financial literacy across a range of areas and there are opportunities for links with the curriculum in all states and territories," Senator Sherry said.
Young Australians who understand insurance as a way to protect their assets, and superannuation as an effective way to save for retirement, will get a head start on two key areas of personal finance, he said.
"Your Money Starter includes a variety of innovative classroom materials, activities and multimedia elements designed to make learning about financial services relevant and attractive to teenagers," D'Aloisio said.
Currently around 80 per cent of young Australians aged 12 to 17 recognise the need for education around choosing appropriate insurance.
Meanwhile around 85 per cent already understand the importance odf learning more about planning for their financial future.
The materials are available in hard copy and on CD-ROM and can be downloaded, free of charge, from ASIC's consumer website, FIDO, at www.fido.gov.au/yourmoneystarter.
Ruth Liew
