Competition winners prove young Queenslanders know how to buy school
Published Wednesday, 17 October, 2007 at 04:00 PM
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister Assisting the Premier in Western Queensland
The Honourable Kerry Shine
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Kerry Shine has congratulated the winners of the Queensland schools 2007 Buy Smart competition.
Winners from around the state were recognised at the awards ceremony held at Parliament House in Brisbane, with simultaneous regional award ceremonies taking place statewide.
“The Buy Smart competition is run by the Office of Fair Trading to promote awareness of good consumer and financial skills amongst young people,” Mr Shine said.
“More than 500 students from 42 schools throughout Queensland entered the competition and entries covered topics such as scams, refund rights, online shopping, debt, credit cards, buying mobile phones and cars, and door-to-door sales.”
Mr Shine said spending and debt among young people is on the rise with advertising exposing them to a wider range of financial and consumer products than ever before.
“The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia 2006 annual report, identified over 1900 people under the age of 25 were declared bankrupt in Australia, 480 of these were from Queensland,” Mr Shine said.
“Mobile phones are now a mainstream product targeted particularly at the youth market and are now the number one cause of youth debt.
“The average age a person begins using mobile phones is 13, with 20 per cent of people under 18 admitting phone debt has caused them major problems.
“The mobile phone bill is a young person’s first introduction to debt, the credit card is a close second.”
Mr Shine congratulated the winners for their creativity, hard work and demonstrated understanding of fair trading issues.
“The quality of the entries was excellent, so the winners deserve congratulations for their achievements,” Mr Shine said.
“The winning students were from schools at Goodna, Corinda, MacGregor, Spring Hill, Rockhampton, Barcaldine, White Rock (Cairns) and Gladstone.
“The individual winners and their schools received a total of $12,150 in prize money,” Mr Shine said.
For more information about the Buy Smart competition visit the Youth section of the Office of Fair Trading website at www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au.
Media contact: Troy Davies 3239 6400 or 0488 799 273
Winners from around the state were recognised at the awards ceremony held at Parliament House in Brisbane, with simultaneous regional award ceremonies taking place statewide.
“The Buy Smart competition is run by the Office of Fair Trading to promote awareness of good consumer and financial skills amongst young people,” Mr Shine said.
“More than 500 students from 42 schools throughout Queensland entered the competition and entries covered topics such as scams, refund rights, online shopping, debt, credit cards, buying mobile phones and cars, and door-to-door sales.”
Mr Shine said spending and debt among young people is on the rise with advertising exposing them to a wider range of financial and consumer products than ever before.
“The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia 2006 annual report, identified over 1900 people under the age of 25 were declared bankrupt in Australia, 480 of these were from Queensland,” Mr Shine said.
“Mobile phones are now a mainstream product targeted particularly at the youth market and are now the number one cause of youth debt.
“The average age a person begins using mobile phones is 13, with 20 per cent of people under 18 admitting phone debt has caused them major problems.
“The mobile phone bill is a young person’s first introduction to debt, the credit card is a close second.”
Mr Shine congratulated the winners for their creativity, hard work and demonstrated understanding of fair trading issues.
“The quality of the entries was excellent, so the winners deserve congratulations for their achievements,” Mr Shine said.
“The winning students were from schools at Goodna, Corinda, MacGregor, Spring Hill, Rockhampton, Barcaldine, White Rock (Cairns) and Gladstone.
“The individual winners and their schools received a total of $12,150 in prize money,” Mr Shine said.
For more information about the Buy Smart competition visit the Youth section of the Office of Fair Trading website at www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au.
Media contact: Troy Davies 3239 6400 or 0488 799 273