Request a classroom presentation on Buy Smart topics

Sessions for upper primary school levels are typically 30 to 40 minutes long.

Check out educational videos for upper primary years (4 to 6).

Topics include:

Going shopping and dealing with money (Year 4)

• Observing and staying under a spending limit
• Prioritising purchases based on order of importance
• Working with cash, including notes and coins
• Establishing total prices of multiple items and calculating change
• Making consumer decisions by evaluating price and value

Advertising: How does it really work? (Year 4)

• Recognising advertising as a persuasive text
• Considering different ways of advertising products or services
• Exploring how promotions and competitions are used as persuasive tools
• Understanding how advertised 'specials' or 'sales' are not necessarily the best value
• Recognising how some advertisements may appear to be informative texts

Budgeting, saving and smarter spending (Year 5)

• Associating money with work, including the relationship of tasks to monetary value
• Evaluating spending and saving decisions and exploring reasons to save
• Differentiating between needs and wants
• Managing a budget, including responding to changes in circumstance
• Shopping around to make informed consumer decisions

Advertising: What are they really saying? (years 5 to 6)

• Evaluating the function of advertising as a persuasive text
• Exploring the persuasive function of different ways of advertising
• Considering how methods like social media 'influencing' are used to persuade
• Understanding how advertised 'specials' or 'sales' are not necessarily the best value
• Examining the role of fine print in advertising

Bright ideas for making money: A kid's guide to business (years 5 to 6)

This session is suggested as a lead-in to a student market day activity.

• Understanding the function of businesses in society
• Evaluating and developing a business idea
• Considering—and budgeting for—a range of expenses
• Marketing a business, product and/or service
• Recognising that businesses must act honestly and responsibly toward customers

Making smarter choices at the shops (Year 6)

• Recognising limits imposed by availability of resources
• Understanding how consumer choice can impact price
• Dealing with opportunity cost when making choices
• Recognising hidden costs when evaluating options
• Calculating percentage on 'sale' prices

Avoiding sneaky scammers (all year levels)

• Developing scam awareness on digital platforms, including apps and games
• Evaluating whether offers are 'too good to be true'
• Recognising scammer tactics, including emotional manipulation
• Understanding why it's important to protect your personal information
• Evaluating legitimacy of email or social media contact

Sessions for middle school levels are typically 45 to 60 minutes long.

Check out educational videos for middle years (7 to 9).

Topics include:

Shoppers, traders and 'the marketplace' (Year 7)

• Exploring how consumers and businesses interact in a market economy
• Considering ways to become a more informed consumer
• Working with budgets and savings plans
• Recognising factors that influence price
• Introducing basics of marketplace regulation
• Considering situations where a consumer may or may not legally return a product

Rights and responsibilities of consumers and businesses (years 8 to 9)

• Considering how marketplace regulation helps ensure fairness for consumers and businesses
• Understanding what it means to be an informed consumer and why this is necessary
• Considering when and how the law provides mechanisms for protecting consumers
• Exploring 'consumer guarantee' rules that set out remedies for faulty products or services
• Recognising the different impacts of laws and customer service policies on 'change of mind' returns

Rules for marketing and advertising (years 8 to 9)

• Exploring how advertising makes representations about price and value
• Considering the role and limitations of fine print or disclaimers in advertising
• Understanding how a business's predictions or opinions contribute to the perceived value of a product or service, including representations about ethical production methods
• Exploring how consumer protection rules interact with contemporary marketing methods, including multi-platform marketing and social media influencers
• Separating false advertising from creative 'puffery'

Online shopping safety and digital media scams (years 7 to 9)

• Developing critical thinking tactics to be scam-aware when shopping online
• Evaluating an online platform's security before entering personal or financial details
• Recognising how scammers use tactics—like emotional manipulation—to target victims
• Evaluating the legitimacy of unsolicited email or social media contact
• Understanding the importance of personal information security in reducing the risk of financial detriment and/or identity theft

Sessions for senior secondary levels are typically 60 to 70 minutes long.

Check out educational videos for senior secondary years (10 to 12).

Topics include:

What is the Australian Consumer Law? (years 10 to 12)

• Introducing the legal context of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL)
• Exploring how consumers can engage with the ACL when in conflict with a trader
• Understanding the role of regulatory agencies (e.g. the Office of Fair Trading) in enforcing the ACL
• Exploring how the ACL enforces consumer protections against illegal sales practices
• Demonstrating how ‘consumer guarantees’ provide an avenue for resolving civil disputes

Buying your first car (years 10 to 12)

• Understanding how buying a car is a 'major' consumer purchase
• Evaluating key considerations when buying from private sellers or motor dealers
• Avoiding car-sale scams (e.g. via online 'classified' marketplaces)
• Discovering how consumer protection laws apply to motor vehicle sales
• Recognising the types of checks to do as a buyer, particularly in a private sale

Online shopping safety and digital media scams (years 10 to 12)

• Developing critical thinking tactics to be scam aware when shopping online
• Evaluating an online platform’s security before entering personal or financial details
• Recognising how scammers use tactics—like emotional manipulation—to target victims
• Evaluating the legitimacy of unsolicited email or social media contact
• Understanding the importance of personal information security in reducing the risk of financial detriment and/or identity theft