The winners of the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) Buy Smart Competition 2021 have been announced today with students from Years 4 and above claiming a share of $15,000 prize money.
The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Shannon Fentiman said the Buy Smart Competition was celebrating its 20th year of fostering consumer awareness in students and was more popular than ever.
"Making sure our young Queenslanders understand their consumer rights and can spot a scammer is so important," Minister Fentiman said.
"Last year scammers stole almost half a million dollars from under 18s in Australia with more than $100,000 from online shopping scams.
"Back in 2002, Buy Smart was started to help young Queenslanders learn about consumer issues and develop savvy consumer habits to carry with them throughout their lives.
"And with the growing demand for online shopping, Buy Smart is even more important today than it was 20 years ago.
"With more than 7,000 students participating in the program in 2021 and over 750 students submitting entries, this year saw plenty of impressive entries accepted into the competition.
"From boardgames to dioramas, music videos, Instagram posts and animations, the Buy Smart Competition had it all, but most importantly it shows us that students are excited and engaged in understanding consumer issues."
The OFT Buy Smart Program is an initiative which typically sees Fair Trading officers visit classrooms across the state to present information to help students become savvy consumers. As with last year, COVID-related restrictions again saw some of those visits being streamed into classrooms.
The competition involves students identifying a consumer issue, researching it, and presenting what they have learned in a creative way.
The Attorney-General congratulated the young creative minds who participated in the 2021 competition.
"These students have learnt valuable skills that will help them for the rest of their lives," she said.
"We cannot escape consumer issues like buying a first car, avoiding scammers and navigating the online marketplace, but we can learn to be aware of our rights and potential pitfalls.
"In 2021 we again rose to the challenges presented by COVID-19 and held the awards ceremony of the competition virtually."
There were three competition categories: Years 4–6; Years 7–9 and Years 10–12. First prize in each category is $500 for the winning entry and $2,000 for their school; second prize is $250 for the winning entry and $1,000 for their school; and third prize is $150 for the winning entry and $500 for their school.
The judges also awarded a total of ten highly commended prizes across all categories worth $50 per entry.
The Fair Trading Commissioner's School Champion prize of $1,500 was awarded to Mutdapilly State School in the Scenic Rim to recognise its strong participation from their cohort of Year 4, 5 and 6 students. The students used their coding skills to make interactive games exploring refund rights and the importance of saving.
The 2021 winners of each category were: Years 4 to 6
First place: Mitch Graeme, St Mary MacKillop Primary School, Birkdale. (Year 5)
Second place: Josie Dolan and Sasha Glockling, St Dympna's Catholic Primary School, Aspley. (Year 6)
Third place: Kayden Ross, Forest Lake State School. (Year 4)
Highly commended:
- Annabella Collins and Shayla O'Sullivan, Kurwongbah State School, Petrie. (Year 5)
- Abigail Wilson, Alice Barr, Inara Mayes, Francesca O'Neil and Eva Wilkinson, Kedron State School. (Year 6)
- Cooper Jayo, Mackay North State School. (Year 6)
Years 7 to 9
First place: Lindie van Tonder, Trinity College, Gladstone. (Year 9)
Second place: Ruby Kavanagh and Eliza Luhrs, Wavell State High School. (Year 9)
Third place: Zali Love, Wavell State High School. (Year 9)
Highly commended:
- Caleb Harlick, Mitchell Salmon and Nihal Singh, Redeemer Lutheran College, Biloela. (Year 7)
- Lauren Stallard, Loreto College Coorparoo. (Year 8)
- Sophie Hamilton, Chloe Michell and Indya Anderson, Sheldon College. (Year 9)
- Jack Taylor, Sunshine Coast Grammar School. (Year 8)
- Angelica Baltazar, Wavell State High School. (Year 9)
- Kiki Bell and Emily Ryan, Clayfield College. (Year 9)
Years 10 to 12
First place: Nidhi Kapadia, Adonia Joseph and Sahrish Nouryan, Queensland Academies Health Sciences Campus, Southport. (Year 10)
Second place: Cody Menzies, Nambour State College. (Year 10)
Third place: Braedon O'Brien, Trinity College, Gladstone (Year 10)
Highly commended:
Ewan McFadzen and Om Bhikadiya, Aspley State High School (Year 10)
Commissioner's School Champion Prize:
Mutdapilly State School
