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National Strategies to Promote Financial Literacy

Australia

The Australian government established the Financial Literacy Foundation in mid-2005, with the objective of implementing a national strategy intended to provide a framework within which financial literacy initiatives in Australia could function more effectively. The specific objectives of the Foundation are:

1. The adoption and integration of consumer and financial literacy into the school curriculum, starting at primary school and including the professional development of teachers in teaching consumer and financial education;
2. The adoption and integration of consumer and financial literacy into the workplace through vocational education programs and employer information channels;
3. Commissioning and conducting an ongoing national research program on the factors leading to key consumer and financial decision-making;
4. Providing a clearinghouse website to assist consumers and consumer intermediaries with better access to existing information;
5. Facilitating collaboration between organizations that might benefit from each other's expertise with the objective of reducing duplication and inconsistency across existing initiatives and programs. The Foundation will also work with public, private and community organizations to ensure that there is a collaborative approach to advancing and coordinating financial literacy initiatives; and,
6. Facilitating an ongoing social marketing campaign to embed a key consumer financial literacy message within the Australian culture (the financial equivalent of 'don't drink and drive') and providing best practice guidance to organizations regarding effective education approaches to key consumer issues based on research and policy expertise.