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 levels (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 (Years 4 to 6)

• 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 levels (Years 7 to 9).

Topics include:

Savvy shoppers, honest traders: Buy smart in the world of 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

Fair and square: Buy smart and know your rights (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

Spinning it straight: Buy smart by staying ad-savvy (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'

Click/tap/sale: Buy smart to avoid scams and online traps (Years 7 to 9)

• Recognising ‘dark pattern’ marketing techniques used by online shopping providers
• 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 messages (e.g. email, text, messaging apps)
• Understanding the importance of personal information security in reducing the risk of financial detriment and/or identity theft

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

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

Topics include:

Australian Consumer Law: Buy smart when you know the 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

Keys to your first car: Buy smart, safe and affordable (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

Click/tap/sale: Buy smart to avoid scams and online traps (Years 10 to 12)

• Recognising ‘dark pattern’ marketing techniques used by online shopping providers
• 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 messages (e.g. email, text, social media)
• Understanding the importance of personal information security in reducing the risk of financial detriment and/or identity theft