Street Finance

Street Finance is an innovative subject that involves finance students visiting secondary schools in Melbourne for the purpose of delivering three lessons on finance topics of interest and relevance to young people. Participation in Street Finance requires students to develop a thorough understanding of the relevant areas of finance to be taught, based on materials supplied by Department of Finance. Specific topics to be covered will change from year to year, and may include broad topics (such as budgeting) and/or topics of specific practical relevance to high school students (financial aspects of mobile phone contracts). Street Finance provides a unique opportunity for students to develop their technical and communication skills, while at the same time making a tangible contribution to the community through the delivery of finance lessons to an audience that may not usually have strong avenues of access to financial education or the financial profession. Students undertaking Street Finance will develop fundamental communication skills, including the ability to explain complex financial concepts and information to a non-expert, non specialist audience. The program is also designed to build skills and enhance confidence in public speaking, which is important for any finance professional. More broadly, students undertaking the program will gain experience in the provision of community financial education, which is an increasingly important aspect of the work of finance professionals in many parts of the profession (and particularly the community financial sector). Students will be required to identify the best method of adapting supplied materials to the particular curriculum needs and context of an individual school. The substantive knowledge will then need to be communicated in a clear and accessible manner in presentations to high school students of varying academic abilities and backgrounds. Students enrolled in this subject will receive instruction in relevant substantive areas from faculty in the Department of Finance, as well as specialist training in lesson planning and delivery. Students will also have the opportunity to develop new materials which may either be used by individual schools and/or by Street Finance in the Department of Finance in future years.

• 1Specialised knowledge of at least three substantive areas of finance and financial literacy relevant to young people;
• 2Sophisticated understanding of the importance of financial literacy;
• 3Developed knowledge about the current status of financial literacy in Australia and government policy in the area;
• 4A nuanced understanding of some of the challenges faced by young people in the Australian economy;
• 5An understanding of community financial resources relevant to young people;
• 6An advanced and practical understanding of the challenges involved in effectively communicating complex financial concepts and ideas to a non-specialist audience;
• 7The ability to critically assess theories of teaching and lesson delivery; and
• 8An understanding of appropriate methods for identifying and developing written materials suitable for use to communicate to non-experts.