Young people need have the skills and knowledge to make sound financial decisions now and as adults and to support them to engage confidently and successfully in economic life. They must navigate a much more complex financial landscape and assume greater financial responsibility at a younger age...

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has stewarded the Australian National Financial Literacy Strategy since 2011. Financial literacy is increasingly recognised as an essential part of consumer protection, complementing traditional consumer protection mechanisms such as...

The current debate in the United Kingdom about the appropriate regulatory response to payday lending involves the key issue of borrower vulnerability. There is compelling evidence in the UK that many payday lenders are deliberately making loans to financially vulnerable borrowers who cannot...

Although young Australians are active consumers there is little evidence about their knowledge of consumer rights. The authors report the results of a survey of 207 Australian school students aged 16-17 aimed at ascertaining their knowledge of consumer rights. Focus group interviews were also...

The regulation of payday lending in Australia has recently been reformed. The reforms followed a highly charged and polarised debate between the conflicting interests of consumer and welfare advocates — who argued for increased protection for payday loan borrowers — and the payday loan...

Institutional investment in Australia is both highly innovative and complex. The regulatory focus – and associated literature – on institutional investment has been on the sell-side. Considerably less attention has been paid to the buy-side, that is to the institutional investors themselves....

Bankruptcy is widely regarded as a means of rehabilitation for debtors in severe financial hardship. To date, however, there have been few attempts to study its long term impact on individuals' finances, health, social relationships and general quality of life. The authors address this gap in...

This paper examines recent trends in Australian personal bankruptcy by analysing a large data set obtained from the regulator, the Australian Financial Security Authority. It demonstrates a marked decline in Australian bankruptcy rates, since a peak in 2009, and a consistent rise in levels of...

This study is the first empirically based analysis of business bankruptcy to be conducted in Australia. It aims to identify key differences between debtors who declare business bankruptcy and those who declare non-business or “personal” bankruptcy, and to explore the extent to which there...

Consumers in Australia and other developed countries are increasingly required to interact with providers of complex financial products and services, and to estimate, mitigate or absorb the risks that flow from their financial decisions. A range of debt-related problems in Australia have been...