2026 Buy Smart Competition winners

Years 4 to 6 winners

First place

Madison, Georgie and Heather—All Hallows' School

First place was awarded to an intricate and highly engaging board game called ‘Scam or Not?’. The board game is a lot of fun to play, is full of question cards to engage players with the content and demonstrates their outstanding grasp of scam information.

Second place

Eve, Scarlet, Lily and Hayley—Kurwongbah State School

Second place went to a short film about Rapunzel needing to buy hair-growing products to successfully let down her hair. Rapunzel learns about shopping around using various options to find the best buy. After choosing to shop online, she learns how to stay safe.

Third place

Keith, Denzel and Kento—Wellers Hill State School

Third place was given to a short animation about shopping online. A young shopper encounters a tempting pop-up with a too-good-to-be-true discount, which catches him out. His parent helps him react to the immediate issue and provides him with excellent ways to protect himself in future.

Highly commended

Highly commended awards went to (in no particular order):

• Abi, Annabelle, Harper and Laylah—Kurwongbah State School for a video about a young girl tempted by an unexpected prize scam
• Sierra—Eromanga State School for a board game with question cards full of important material to think about
• Georgia and Hannah—St Columba’s Primary School, Wilston for a card game called 'Take them to Court' about false advertising and puffery
• Mia, Andria and Olive—Craigslea State School for a news report about scam safety for kids while gaming online

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Years 7 to 9 winners

First place

Ezra and Gurshabd—Mueller College

First place was awarded to a website called 'Consumer Pal', exploring the use of AI to help consumers. The site allows users to input the details of a situation and receive advice and help, including the relevant sources. Consumers can also seek help drafting a complaint letter to a business using the business's own published policies as well as their rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

Second place

Charlotte and Emma—Ayr State High School

Second place went to a short film focusing on online shopping scams. The film is targeted at teenage girls and delivers its messages effectively and with context.

Third place

Shiven—Sheldon College

Third place was given to the fantastic scam-safety website called 'Cyberguard'. It brings together excellent research, cites authoritative sources and synthesises it all into a useable, engaging and informative product.

Highly commended

Highly commended awards went to (in no particular order):

• Charlotte, Erin, Ella and Esther—St Saviour's College, Toowoomba for an energetic re-interpretation of ABBA's song, 'Money, Money, Money'—it provides scam safety tips for surviving 'in a hustler's world'
• Aanyha—North Lakes State College for a short film about a young shopper looking to buy sneakers online, which provides excellent tips, courtesy of a cartoon shopping trolley
• Annabelle—Trinity College, Beenleigh for a clearly-narrated presentation about budgeting for young adults
• Nina and Ava—Coolum State High School for a board game where players take turns to read questions about online scams that all other players must answer
• Nathan Furcak—Bray Park State High School for a PowerPoint presentation that steps pre-teens through the ins-and-outs of budgeting, saving and managing their money

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Years 10 to 12 winners

First place

Royce and Jason— Aspley State High School

First place was awarded to the 'Con-opoly' board game, which has well-researched question cards about different types of scams and excellent gameplay.

Second place

Sophia and Annaliese—Merrimac State High School

Second place went to a music video parody about a young woman trying to return a faulty water bottle and seeking help when she can't find her receipt.

Third place

Mateneh and Suri—Australian Islamic College

Third place was given to the 'Car Smart' board game. It turns the sometimes complicated business of buying a first car into something fun and practical, covering consumer rights and the rules around second-hand vehicles.

Highly commended

A highly commended award went to:

• Vedant and André—Aspley State High School for a board game which helps young people budget income from their first part-time job, including the important aspect of planning for unexpected costs

Commissioner's School Champion Prize

This prize went to Cherbourg State School for their Year 3 to Year 6 classes' enthusiastic participation in the Buy Smart Program 2026 student presentations.

Students learnt more about earning, saving, spending, budgeting and financial decision-making.

The program linked with topics they were learning in financial mathematics, giving them an opportunity to use their knowledge of money, decimals and percentages to solve real-world problems.

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More information

• Check out past Buy Smart competition winners.
• Request a classroom presentation on Buy Smart topics.
• Access Buy Smart teachers' resources.
• Find out how to enter the Buy Smart Competition.