What Financial Education Can and Can’t Do with Dr. Tracey West

In this episode, Dr Tracey West joins Professor Sally Gainsbury to discuss what actually works in financial education, and how we know. Tracey is a financial capability researcher and practitioner whose work spans financial education, behavioural change, consumer wellbeing, and large-scale program evaluation. Drawing on her experience with initiatives such as Talk Money with Ecstra Foundation, the conversation explores what financial education programs can achieve, what their evaluation data can and cannot tell us, and why the gap between knowledge, intention, and behaviour matters. The episode considers how financial capability should be understood in practice, especially for young people navigating digital environments shaped by gambling, buy now pay later products, investing apps, scams, and online spending. It also examines where responsibility sits with individuals, educators, regulators, governments, or commercial platforms. Visit BetWell: Bet with more clarity, insight and intention https://betwell.org.au/ Show notes and links: Books: Akerlof & Shiller, Phishing for Phools  Robert Shiller, Finance and the Good Society  Dan Ariely, Dollars and Sense  Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk  Richard Thaler, Misbehaving  Podcast: Tim Harford, Cautionary Tales  Academic article: Netemeyer, R. G., Lynch, J. G., Lichtenstein, D. R., & Dobolyi, D. (2024). Financial Education Effects on Financial Behavior and Well-Being: The Mediating Roles of Improved Objective and Subjective Financial Knowledge and Parallels in Physical Health. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 43(4), 254–275. https://doi.org/10.1177/07439156241228197