An address by ASIC Deputy Chairman Peter Kell, University of Technology, Sydney, Tuesday 18 June 2013
Duration: 8 minutes (862 words)
Thanks, Aldi, for that introduction.
And thank you Uncle Chicka Madden for your warm welcome to country. I acknowledge that we have gathered today on Aboriginal land – the land of the Gadigal clan of the Eora (pronounced ‘ee-ora’) nation – and I pay my respects to their elders past and present.
As Aldi just noted, I have devoted a great deal of my professional life to consumer protection. ASIC’s commitment to financial literacy reflects our goal of creating confident and informed consumers and investors. Promoting financial literacy has been an Australian Government priority for more than eight years, one that is shared by all political parties.
One result of this commitment to financial literacy is MoneySmart, ASIC's brand for helping people with their personal money issues. Starting in 2011, MoneySmart has:
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an award winning consumer website;
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a website for educators known as "MoneySmart Teaching"; and
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a broad set of publications.
For years, we have worked hard to reach a wide range of Australians, young and old; rich and poor; metropolitan, rural and remote. Already, a quarter of adult Australians have heard of MoneySmart.
To build on this, I am very pleased to launch MoneySmart Rookie, ASIC's financial literacy initiative for young people aged 16 to 25.
Young Australians are savvy consumers. They are highly engaged with technology, they prefer direct and friendly communication and do not respond well to fear-based messages.
Our research tells us that young people often have difficulty knowing the difference between "needs" and "wants" – sometimes we all struggle with that! They do not necessarily know how to save money. In other words, they often lack basic money management and budgeting skills. They access credit, but do not understand their rights and responsibilities when they do. What does a contract mean? What do they do if they have problems repaying debt? Where do they seek help? Who can they trust to give proper advice?