Kate McKenna* says Queensland has ditched Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmites program from its public schools after a review.
School banking programs like the Commonwealth Bank’s Dollarmites program will be booted from Queensland schools after the corporate watchdog review found there was limited value and children were being exposed to “sophisticated” marketing tactics.
The State’s education minister Grace Grace announced on Monday the bank-run schemes would be out of Queensland schools when the Commonwealth Bank’s contract expired at the end of July.
Queensland is the latest State to end school banking in light of the two-year Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) review, with Victoria and the ACT already announcing they would ban the programs.
The ASIC report, released in December, found school banking providers were “unable to demonstrate that these programs in and of themselves improve savings behaviour” and young children were vulnerable consumers exposed to “sophisticated advertising and marketing tactics” by providers.
It also said payments for implementing the banking programs “incentivise” schools to encourage greater participation in the programs.
“It’s been in for about 50 years.
“I think times have changed from when we first signed up,” Minister Grace said.
“The ASIC report demonstrated that there was really little value in the program and that often the true intention of the program wasn’t disclosed, and there wasn’t really a terrible amount of financial education that was taking place,” she said.
“Based upon that extensive report, the research of my department, and also stakeholder consultation, we’ve decided that at the end of the contract term – which is July this year – we will not be renewing that program.
“I also note Bendigo Bank ceased their school banking programs with my department at the end of September 2020, on the basis of the ASIC report.”
In 2018, the ABC revealed the Commonwealth Bank had paid almost $400,000 to Queensland state schools during 2017, to sign children up to its school banking program.
At the time, Queensland’s Department of Education had tried to prevent the release of the figures, until the Office of the Information Commission ruled it as in the public interest.
Asked on Monday how much the bank had contributed to schools last year, Ms Grace said she did not have the exact amount.
“Different schools enter different programs, there’s about 560-odd schools that have programs with the Commonwealth Bank, and there’s quite a number of students who have bank accounts as well,” she said.
She estimated about 38,000 Queensland students had Dollarmite accounts.
She said Monday’s announcement did not mean that accounts needed to be closed.
“They can continue in their own private capacity,” she said.
“At the same time of course we’ll be ensuring that we continue to implement the Australian curriculum when it comes to financial education in schools.
“Teachers run a series of programs.”
She said the department would be providing more details to schools ahead of the program winding up.
“We’ll be rolling out information to all of the schools to ensure that they know at the end of July the program will cease to be conducted, and we’ll be giving them guidelines on how they operate following that time,” she said.
Commonwealth Bank ‘disappointed’ with decision
A Commonwealth Bank spokeswoman said the bank was “disappointed” by the Queensland Government’s decision to end its school banking in the State, saying it will impact “thousands of children, families, school communities and volunteers”.
“We engaged constructively with the ASIC review and have been refining our program in response to its findings, with submissions from communities, schools and individuals right across the country showing significant support for school banking,” she said.
“Our program reinforces the importance of regular savings for more than 24,000 students across nearly 600 Queensland schools that volunteer to participate annually.
“We will support our impacted teams and school partners across Queensland to determine what this decision means for them going forward.
“Recognising the changing needs of youth financial education, we will continue to work with academics, behavioural scientists, education experts, parents, and school communities to evolve our program to focus on supporting youth financial literacy.”
*Kate McKenna is a journalist with ABC News in Brisbane.
This article first appeared at abc.net.au.
