Free Financial Literacy For Children
How old were you when you learned about budgeting, tax and investments? The first time you did a tax return, saw your first student loan bill or ran into money trouble in uni? It doesn’t have to be that way, and the Financial Basics Foundation can help, free of charge.
What is the Financial Basics Foundation?
The Financial Basics Foundation is an independent charity that provides extensive free financial literacy teaching resources to all Australian secondary schools, some charities and registered training organisations.
Covering topics that are relevant to real world finance ‐ the program includes both a teaching resource ‘Operation Financial Literacy’ and ‘ESSI Money’ the online virtual finance game.
Operation Financial Literacy
Operation Financial Literacy is a flexible teaching program that provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the most important financial concepts relevant to everyday life. It consists of modules including: goal setting, income, budgeting, insurance, credit, tax, banking, investing, mobile phones, and scams.
ESSI Money ‐ real decisions, real scenarios
ESSI Money is all about real life scenarios in the areas of Earning, Saving, Spending, and Investing – ESSI! Each game allows students to manage a financial decision over a virtual six months.
Earning: employment, Centrelink and interest.
Saving: bank accounts, cash and financial goals.
Spending: mobile phones, credit cards and buying a car.
Investing: scams, risk vs. return, and investments.
Students will leave with a greater understanding of the everyday financial decisions they will face after school from the importance of budgeting and goal‐setting, to seeking financial advice from qualified professionals.
Where to start
If your child’s school isn’t participating, you can have them register here www.financialbasics.org.au/register. Even if your school isn’t interested, you can still register as a member of the Financial Basics Foundation and access the Financial Literacy in Practice (FLIP) activities at no cost to you at www.financialbasics.org.au/flip.aspx.