2025 Buy Smart Competition winners

Years 4 to 6 winners

First place

Jennifer—St Benedict's Primary School

First place was awarded to an engaging and informative podcast, Hook, Line and Click. In host, Jennifer's own words, 'we catch scams before they catch you'. The podcast combined excellent research with a range of interesting and engaging segments, held together by a knowledgeable and well-spoken host.

Second place

Charlie and Ilaria—St Columba's Primary School

Second place went to a short film called Dance for Your Rights. It tells the story of a young girl who learns about her consumer rights after she signs up to a dodgy dance school. The film cleverly uses storytelling to explain key information about consumer law.

Third place

Indie and Maggie—Esk State School

Third place was given to The Money Bakers, which presents hints and tips for earning and saving money in the style of a baking show. The entry uses a metaphor of baking a cake to explain clever money management—you need to pay attention to all the ingredients and follow the right steps.

Highly commended

Highly commended awards went to (in no particular order):

• Ruby and Aaria—Clover Hill State School for a board game about online shopping safety with hints and tips in the gameplay
• Lexi—Gilston State School for a short film about avoiding impulse buys and keeping receipts for all purchases
• Emily—Kedron State School for an interactive PowerPoint quiz full of advice about using money wisely
• Rafe and Riley—Kurwongbah State School for a news report about scam safety for kids while gaming online
• Lexie and Caitlin—St Benedict's Primary School for a multimodal presentation exploring consumer rights and evaluating wants and needs

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Years 7 to 9 winners

First place

Harper, Liana and Evie—Sheldon College

First place was awarded to a rhyming picture book with pop-out illustrations that engages readers with safer online shopping habits. The book follows the character of Ben as he digs through his online history to identify why his money has vanished from his online bank account.

Second place

Oliver—Parklands Christian College

Second place went to a series of engaging skits explaining refunds and other consumer law remedies to other teens. The entry picks out several excellent examples and explores them with a very cheeky and appealing sense of humour.

Third place

Mason, Eli and Cooper—Livingstone Christian College

Third place was given to the Scam Seekers board game, which builds excellent scenario-based questions into the gameplay. Notably, these questions require players to do more in-depth thinking about the topic than simply picking between multiple choice options.

Highly commended

Highly commended awards went to (in no particular order):

• Helen, Bronte, Meg and Sarah—Loreto College, Coorparoo for a short and sharp reel-style video about avoiding 'unexpected winnings' scams
• Cedar and Matisse—Sunshine Coast Grammar School for their video exploring online identity crime and explaining how being scam aware helps minimise the risks
• Lucas—Trinity College, Gladstone for an animated PowerPoint presentation with a young person being stepped through the considerations and expenses of buying a first car
• Paige and Seerat—Sheldon College for a board game where players take turns to read out questions about online scams that all other players must answer

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Years 10 to 12 winners

First place

Xanthe and Mya— Aspley State High School

First place was awarded to the Fate or Fake board game exploring romance scams, including an extensive series of Q&As for players to answer in order to progress.

Second place

Eason—Merrimac State High School

Second place went to a 'rap battle' music video centred around the purchase of a faulty phone. It features an aggrieved consumer, unsympathetic trader and a very learned lawyer who schools them both.

Third place

Luke—Nambour State College

Third place was given to a detailed, targeted slideshow designed to guide teens through the process of buying a first car.

Highly commended

Grant—Aspley State High School

A highly commended award went to this Star Wars parody skit about Luke Skywalker falling victim to a romance scam.

Commissioner's School Champion Prize

This prize went to Torquay State School, Hervey Bay for their enthusiastic participation in the Buy Smart Program since December 2024 through multiple student presentations.

The teachers have embraced Buy Smart's close alignment with the mathematics curriculum, particularly in the areas of consumer and financial literacy.

Participation in Buy Smart has reinforced students' prior knowledge and extended their understanding of how to make safe, informed decisions as consumers. Year 4 and 5 students were enthusiastic and engaged in all sessions, asking great questions and having lively discussions around the important topics of money and budgeting, careful shopping online and recognising potential scams.

Torquay State School is a worthy winner of this year's prize!

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More information

• Check out past Buy Smart competition winners.
• Request a classroom presentation on Buy Smart topics.
• Access Buy Smart teachers' resources.
• Find out how to enter the Buy Smart Competition.