We are honoured to have been featured in The Australian Financial Review in a recent article exploring Australia’s financial literacy crisis and what needs to change.

The piece highlights a stark reality: more than 70 percent of Australian teenagers do not understand basic financial concepts like interest rates, inflation, or diversification. For adults, the picture is not much better. This knowledge gap has real economic consequences, contributing to financial stress, hardship, and billions in avoidable costs.

A new report by Frontier Economics, commissioned by Kids Get Money, found that improving national financial literacy could save Australia an estimated $9 billion each year in health costs alone. This is before considering the additional savings from reduced pressure on our social safety net.

Other countries, including New Zealand and Denmark, are taking bold steps to embed financial education as a core part of their school curriculums. Here in Australia, we believe the time has come for a similar commitment. If we want to build a more resilient, productive, and confident generation, financial literacy must become a priority.

As our founder Annette Rose shared with AFR:

“Education doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not going to make financial mistakes. But with a strong baseline, you have a far better chance of avoiding hardship. The return on investment is too huge to ignore.”

You can read the full article here.

We are proud to advocate for making financial literacy an essential, stand alone, part of every Australian classroom. We will keep working towards a future where every young person has the skills they need to thrive.

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