Consumer Rights Awareness of Young Australians

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 conducted with 68 students. Factors that positively affect knowledge of consumer rights are the geographic location of the school that students attended, the proportion of students at each school that spoke a language other than English, the occupation of the parents of students, and whether students discussed money matters with parents or teachers. Insights from the focus group interviews include: the existence of significant differences in students' knowledge of consumer rights; that personal experience appears to make a difference to individual awareness of consumer rights; and that a substantial proportion of students lacked the confidence to exercise their consumer rights