How
many people understand their superannuation details or insurance options (life,
car, house, boat, or any other insurance)? What about the complexities of your
medicine dosages and when you need to take them, particularly when you are
unwell.
Last
night, the ABC Melbourne, Lateline program interviewed David Whitely, the chief
executive of Industry Super Australia, http://www.industrysuper.com which represents the country's largest
superannuation funds, including HESTA, HOSTPLUS, Cbus and Australian Super. The
discussion was about the proposed changes the Federal government are
considering to the Future of Financial Advice laws. www.abc.net.au
Excerpt
from the Lateline Program:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-24/fofa-on-hold/5342552
"EMMA
ALBERICI (Journalist): Well in fact, Senator Arthur Sinodinos on this very
program just a few weeks ago said that his advice to consumers was that they
needed to get more informed because, "... at the end of the day,
that's the best sanction on financial advisors". What do you think of that
tip from Senator Sinodinos?
DAVID
WHITELEY: Well I think the thinking about superannuation and how people invest
and save for their retirement has moved considerably in the last decade. It's
now recognised that people tend to discount the future. That is, that they pay
much more attention to what's occurring today than they might do 40 years down
the track. It's quite clear that there's relatively low levels of financial
literacy across the Australian community. And when we have a
compulsory super system or pension system, we need to make sure that the
regulatory framework is designed to take into account how we know people
behave; that is, the system is designed to act in people's best interests.
"
So
where does the data come from to confirm this statement from David Whitely?
Data
released by the ABS in 2013, as part of the Program for the International
Assessment of Adult Literacy Competencies (PIAAC) has some significant data on prose
literacy, numerical literacy and problem solving in technology-rich
environments literacy. www.abs.gov.au #4228
Often
we cite the Prose literacy. Non-functional literacy (Prose) in Australia is 44%
or 7.3 million Australian adults.
In
fact numerical literacy, which involves reading, understanding and interpreting
numbers and mathematical concepts and information is even more significant.
Current data from 2013 has identified “53.5% or 11.7 million adult Australians
do not have the skills in numeracy
to be able to complete Level 2 tasks, or below, rating them as being non-functional
in numeracy.”
“Tasks
from level 2 include a range of common contexts where maths content is fairly
explicit or visual...... Involves calculating with whole numbers and common
decimals, per cents and fractions; simple measurement and spatial
representation; estimation; and interpretation of relatively simple data and
statistics in texts, tables and graphs.”
www.abs.gov.au #4228
Read more
detail on PIAAC in my November 2013 blog. http://accesseasyenglish.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/notes-on-current-adult-literacy-skills.html
If
it is recognised by the financial industry there are "relatively low
levels of financial literacy”, maybe there are other strategies that need to be
considered.
Can
information be written in everyday words and language and style, so that we do understand
and can be better informed about our superannuation and other financial needs? Yes.
It is possible to write information using everyday words, terms and styles of
writing.
Think
about other times numeracy is part of the reading you do? I will start a list
for you. See how many other things you can add to this list.
·
Work
entitlements
·
Pay
and Super Payments
·
Salary
packaging or Salary sacrifice
·
Bills
·
Mobile
Phone contracts
·
Insurance
·
Timetables
Let's
talk about how your organisation can improve how information is presented so
more Australians have an opportunity to be informed about their choices in their financial literacy
and other areas of their life.
Cathy
Cathy
Basterfield
Access
Easy English
0466
579 855
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