Consumer and financial literacy: Year 9

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Student experience

Young people grow up in diverse circumstances. At age 14 to 15, there is a divergence in young people’s sophistication in relation to financial management attitudes. Unique family circumstances strongly influence young people’s notions of their future possibilities. Female and male maturity diverges, creating differing consumer and financial attitudes and behaviours. Typically, students are earning money in wider and enterprising ways. They have part-time jobs, are gifted money, and sell possessions. Many are informal moneylenders and borrowers, providing bridging finance to each other. Their part-time work creates new financial responsibilities such as paying tax, seeking tax refunds, paying bills and managing accounts and credit cards. Young people are starting to think of the future and using their enterprising spirit to make money, particularly through digital opportunities. Their brand consciousness, more sophisticated consumer needs and wants, and increased income create new consumption behaviours and financial expenses, also creating more exposure to risks. This is balanced by more ethical thinking in decision-making.

Student learning

The Australian Curriculum in this year level supports the development of all dimensions of consumer and financial literacy as shown in the diagram below.

Approximate proportion of dimensions addressed in Year 9

Typically, at this level, students learn about simple interest and financial contexts involving cost of credit and interest earned on investments. They investigate Australia’s economic interconnectedness with the world, how citizens are connected globally, and how these factors affect financial and work futures. They begin to consider their personal aspirations and the lifelong learning required for changing futures, and consider how legal, taxation and political systems affect their wellbeing and obligations as workers and citizens.

Students build knowledge, understandings and skills and are able to apply these to an increasing range of more complex consumer and financial contexts. They reflect on how media and social media shape their identities and how identities, along with other factors, influence consumer behaviour and financial decisions. They understand and apply strategies to manage financial risks and rewards, including managing risks in the online environment such as scams, identity theft and fraudulent transactions. They investigate and critically analyse a range of persuasive and finance-specific texts and products, evaluating them for authorial intent, and the validity, credibility and suitability of information. They plan ways to resolve real-world challenges; research more complex data; and apply mathematical strategies to design, model and find solutions, including those involving simple interest. They analyse, manage, manipulate and present real-world data and information in a range of appropriate formats, using their analysis to inform real-life consumer and financial decisions. Students practise safe, ethical and responsible behaviour in online and digital consumer and financial contexts and explain the procedures for safe and secure online shopping and banking. They develop and are able to apply a range of enterprising behaviours to real-life situations including accepting challenges, showing initiative, accepting responsibility, taking opportunities, setting goals, negotiating solutions and refining and rethinking approaches to problems. They use criteria and cost-benefit analysis to make informed consumer and financial decisions. When making their decisions, students consider a range of factors such as social context, beliefs and values, ethical perspectives, safety, sustainability, future risk and personal goals.

Moneysmart for teachers provides a number of interdisciplinary units and interactive activities that support the teaching and learning of consumer and financial literacy at this level. Access a list of relevant resources that link to the Australian Curriculum using the right-hand menu.

The ATO’s Tax, Super and You resource also offers a number of digital interactives and modules. This resource has been designed flexibly so that teachers and/or students can choose to focus on one or more, or all, of the digital interactives and activities within each module. Access a list of relevant resources that link to the Australian Curriculum using the right-hand menu. See how each digital interactive and activity aligns with the Australian Curriculum in this year level.