To mark Global Money Week (14-20 March 2016), ASIC has released practical tips and resources for parents and teachers to help them teach children about money and establish good money habits for life.

"In a rapidly changing world, with money increasingly invisible in many financial transactions, teaching children and young people about money matters will give them essential skills for life," Peter Kell, ASIC's Deputy Chairman said.

"As the Australian Government agency responsible for financial literacy, ASIC is keen for young Australians to develop sound financial habits and behaviours from an early age so they can better navigate financial decisions and challenges in adult life.

"For parents, there are many situations in everyday family life that present opportunities to talk to children about money, involve them in budgeting and planning and learn valuable skills," he said.

ASIC's MoneySmart offers the following practical tips to help parents have money conversations with kids:

• At the ATM – explain where the money's from and how you've earned it; it's not just a hole in the wall where money comes out.  
• At the supermarket – prepare a list, research prices and how you can save money if you shop around.
• Doing a budget – involving kids in discussion about family budgeting can prompt learning about differentiating between needs and wants, costs and spending.  ASIC's MoneySmart Budget Planner is a great tool you can use.
• Pocket money or income from a part-time job present opportunities to discuss setting financial goals and saving up for them and understanding the value of money.
• Mobile phones – discuss options for phone plans and checking and managing data usage to control costs.
• Encourage older children to visit ASIC's MoneySmart website and use its free calculators, apps and resources, as well as tailored information for young people starting out.           

Mr Kell said supporting the teaching of financial literacy skills in schools is also a strategic priority for ASIC, in line with international guidelines.

"Research tells us many teenagers already have experience with financial matters, with over 80 per cent of 15 year olds having a bank account and 73 per cent earning money from work such as outside school hours work or occasional informal jobs, [1] and about 90 per cent of 14-17 year olds owning a mobile phone,"[2] Mr Kell said.

ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching program, delivered in partnership with state and territory education departments around Australia, aims to support financial literacy in schools through teacher professional development and quality teaching resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum. 

"To date, over one third of Australian schools have engaged with aspects of ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching program, and over 14,000 teachers have been trained across the country," Mr Kell said.

This week, ASIC also launched a new addition to the suite of professional learning resources for teachers, ASIC's MoneySmart Maths, a new online professional development module for primary school teachers.  The module explores authentic learning for primary students through money and financial mathematics and reflects the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Associate Professor Catherine Attard from Western Sydney University promotes financial literacy as a context for teaching maths as an innovative way to develop essential problem solving skills.

"The new professional learning module in ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching program will assist teachers to make learning more meaningful for their students, helping them engage with mathematics by bringing real life contexts to teaching and learning," Professor Attard said.

Background

Financial literacy is about having the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours necessary to make sound financial decisions, based on personal circumstances, to improve financial wellbeing.  ASIC leads and coordinates the National Financial Literacy Strategy 2014-17. 

ASIC's MoneySmart website provides trusted and impartial financial guidance and tools to help Australians of all ages manage their money and make informed financial decisions.

ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching program:

• promotes a curriculum based approach to teaching financial literacy in Australian schools
• builds teacher capability through professional development and personal learning
• provides free teaching resources, aligned to the Australian Curriculum, that use real life consumer and financial contexts to build student capability
• supports partnerships with education departments and schools to progress financial literacy around Australia.

ASIC's MoneySmart Teaching program builds the financial literacy capabilities of young Australians in relation to five basic financial principles: planning, spending, saving, donating and investing.

Global Money Week is an international annual money awareness campaign 

Global Money Week is an international annual money awareness campaign that teaches children about money. The theme for Global Money Week 2016 is 'Take Part. Save Smart!'

Media Contact:  ASIC - Karla Davies, 0466 568 121, karla.davies@asic.gov.au