In every space and every sector we find the pioneers. The innovators. The ones who see the world of tomorrow and want to get ahead of it. The Universities Australia conference is a place filled with these people.
The ones who see that education the silver bullet (as much as anything can be) for social mobility, personal success and national prosperity.
We came to Australia from London to bring our financial education program, available to over 300,000 students across almost 20 universities in the UK, down under.
Australia faces many similar challenges to those in Britain; an imperative to support a diverse and challenged student body, tackling high non-continuation numbers and a student debt which is ever climbing.
Students across the world face new challenges and need a different mix of skills than previous generations to meet them and policymakers around the world are starting to realise this. Last year, the World Economic Forum recently highlighted the key competencies needed to thrive in today’s innovation-driven economy. Financial literacy, they have recognised is now a core skill, not a “nice to have”.
Money is a complicated business for students and with the increased complexity and choice for many it’s a great unknown better ignored. When you see debt as inevitable and consider it a mountain what’s a little bit more?
We are working to change all that by empowering students and to revolutionise how they think about their money. By seeing money as a tool we are able to engage students with their own journey towards financial confidence and inspire them towards laying solid financial foundations for life beyond university.
A survey conducted by one of our partner universities proves that this is an achievable aspiration.
They found that 88% of students found our learning informative with 63% believing their budgeting skills have improved and that they have made positive changes. And with 85% of users saying they would recommend Blackbullionto their friends we know that Blackbullion is beginning to have the kind of positive impact which resonated through a person’s life.
From Sydney University’s mandate for a more future proof undergraduate degree to Charles Sturt’s focus on job-ready courses – the conference hall in Canberra is filled with those wanting to say “yes”.
Vivi Friedgut
Founder & CEO
