1. Content descriptors
Knowledge and understanding descriptors introduce the economic and business ideas students examine in Year 7.
Australian Curriculum v9
Year 7 Economics and Business Curriculum: Standard and Content Descriptors
See the Year 7 Economics and Business achievement standard together with the 10 descriptors that support it. The combined view helps teachers turn introductory economic and business concepts into structured, evidence rich inquiry.
Available combined curriculum hubs
Browse published Economics and Business curriculum maps.
All Humanities and Social Sciences achievement standards | All Humanities and Social Sciences content descriptors
How the curriculum elements fit together
2. Learning and assessment
Skills descriptors guide questioning, research, interpretation, decision making and communication.
3. Achievement standard
Evidence should reveal students’ conceptual understanding and how effectively they investigate and explain choices.
ASHASECOY7
Open the standalone ASHASECOY7 page →
Achievement standard (as ACARA publishes it)
Achievement standard
Click any sentence to jump to its statement and linked content descriptors.
By the end of Year 7, students describe how decisions are made to allocate limited resources to individuals and communities in an economy. They describe the reasons businesses exist and types of businesses, and identify how entrepreneurial characteristics contribute to the success of a business. They describe the reasons individuals choose to work, how they may derive an income and the types of work that exist. Students identify the rights and responsibilities of individuals and businesses in terms of products and services.
Students develop questions to investigate an economic and business issue. They locate, select and organise data and information from sources. They interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues, trends or effects. They develop a response and identify potential costs and benefits. Students use economic and business knowledge, concepts, terms and sources to create descriptions and explanations.
The 9 achievement standard statements
Open a statement to see the content descriptors ACARA links to it, then open a descriptor's elaborations.
By the end of Year 7, students describe how decisions are made to allocate limited resources to individuals and communities in an economy.
Content descriptorAC9HE7K01 Knowledge and understanding
why opportunity cost exists as decisions are made to allocate limited resources to meet unlimited needs and wants
Elaborations (5)
- Elaboration explaining the concept of “economic scarcity” in relation to “What to produce?”, “How to produce?” or “For whom to produce?”
- Elaboration identifying the needs and wants of a local community, and exploring how limited resources are currently used to meet unlimited needs and wants
- Elaboration explaining how economic resources might be used more sustainably to meet needs and wants into the future
- Elaboration investigating how First Nations communities use exchange systems (barter) or networks (partnerships) to decide about the use of limited resources in sustainable ways
- Elaboration explaining the concept of “opportunity cost” in relation to a choice; for example, if a student chooses to spend their time (resource) riding their bike after school, they cannot go for a swim (trade-off)
They describe the reasons businesses exist and types of businesses, and identify how entrepreneurial characteristics contribute to the success of a business.
Content descriptorAC9HE7K02 Knowledge and understanding
the reasons businesses exist and how different types of businesses provide goods and services
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration identifying why businesses exist; for example, to produce goods and services, to make a profit, to provide employment, and investigating the different ways that goods and services are provided to people, such as through shopping centres, local markets, online, small independent stores and remote community stores
- Elaboration identifying the features of different types of businesses, including sole proprietorship, partnership, cooperative, corporation, franchise and not-for-profit organisation
- Elaboration investigating a business owned by First Nations Australians, exploring the types of goods and services offered and why this business was started
- Elaboration identifying examples of different types of businesses that sell goods and/or services in the local community; for example, a sole proprietor operating a car yard, a partnership providing legal services or a corporation selling groceries through a chain of supermarkets
Content descriptorAC9HE7K03 Knowledge and understanding
characteristics of entrepreneurs and how these influence the success of a business
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration identifying examples of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial knowledge and skills that they bring to their business, such as recognising opportunities, establishing a shared vision and making decisions about how the business is run
- Elaboration describing the characteristics of First Nations Australian entrepreneurs; for example, community-run companies such as the Gumatj Aboriginal Corporation and individuals such as Dean Foley and Tahnee Edwards, by asking questions such as “What is their story?”, “How did they achieve success?” and “What processes did they apply?”
- Elaboration analysing the influence of values on entrepreneurial decision-making; for example, identifying and taking advantage of an opportunity, negotiating with stakeholders, and complying with the law and regulations
- Elaboration combining knowledge, skills and attitudes demonstrated by entrepreneurs with observations of successful local businesses to explain factors that contribute to success, such as seeing and taking advantage of an opportunity or demonstrating initiative and innovation
They describe the reasons individuals choose to work, how they may derive an income and the types of work that exist.
Content descriptorAC9HE7K04 Knowledge and understanding
the reasons individuals work, the types of work they are involved in, and how they may derive an income
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration identifying different types of work; for example, full-time, part-time, casual, at home, paid, unpaid, unrecognised and volunteer, to appreciate the reasons individuals work or contribute to community organisations
- Elaboration identifying the ways people derive an income, such as working for a wage or salary, owning a business, being a shareholder, providing a rental service or receiving a social security benefit
- Elaboration describing examples of how continuity of cultural practices and management of Country/Place contributes to and sustains First Nations communities; for example, regional tourism ventures, coaching and mentoring initiatives, and fostering entrepreneurial and start-up cultures in regional and remote communities
- Elaboration analysing the contribution that work can make to an individual’s identity and role within a community; for example, earning an income, contributing to self-esteem and happiness, supporting the community through volunteering, enhancing material and non-material living standards
Students identify the rights and responsibilities of individuals and businesses in terms of products and services.
Content descriptorAC9HE7K05 Knowledge and understanding
the rights and responsibilities of individuals and businesses in relation to consumer and financial products and services
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration distinguishing the difference between rights and responsibilities, and creating a list of the rights and responsibilities of individuals and businesses
- Elaboration explaining the rights of individuals and businesses in relation to consumer and financial products and services; for example, warranties, cooling-off periods and processes for returning goods
- Elaboration discussing the responsibilities of businesses in relation to consumer and financial products and services, such as the role of mandatory and voluntary standards, and product safety recalls
- Elaboration explaining the importance of developing personal or business budgets or savings plans before making decisions in relation to consumer and financial products and services
Students develop questions to investigate an economic and business issue.
Content descriptorAC9HE7S01 Skills
develop questions to investigate a contemporary economic and business issue
Elaborations (2)
- Elaboration developing questions to form the basis of an investigation; for example, “How does an understanding of consumer rights and responsibilities impact on decision-making?” and “What are the attributes of an entrepreneur?”
- Elaboration developing questions, using economic and business concepts and terms; for example, “How do businesses decide what to produce?”, “What is economic scarcity?” and “Why can individuals not have all the items they want, meaning they must choose?”
They locate, select and organise data and information from sources.
Content descriptorAC9HE7S02 Skills
locate, select and organise information and data from a range of sources
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration locating online sources; for example, using advanced search functions: “define: market” or targeted criteria: “allintext: successful Australian entrepreneurs”
- Elaboration selecting relevant information and data from sources by asking questions such as “How will the data or information help answer the question?” about websites of government departments or non-government organisations
- Elaboration collaborating and safely exchanging information online with an entrepreneur to identify attributes that built success
- Elaboration organising data into appropriate formats using specialised digital tools, such as tables and graphs, visual displays
They interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues, trends or effects.
Content descriptorAC9HE7S03 Skills
interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues, trends and economic cause-and-effect relationships
Elaborations (3)
- Elaboration interpreting information to identify economic and business issues; for example, inferring the effect of growth in shopping online on the number of customers entering stores
- Elaboration interpreting multi-variable data by using interactive digital tools to identify trends and to answer questions such as “For a 10-year period, to what extent has the number of people in casual work changed?”
- Elaboration interpreting visual displays of multi-variable data to identify a cause-and-effect relationship within an economic and business issue, such as the relationship between income earned by an individual and levels of saving and spending
They develop a response and identify potential costs and benefits.
Content descriptorAC9HE7S04 Skills
develop a response to an economic and business issue, identifying potential costs and benefits
Elaborations (4)
- Elaboration developing a response to an issue by combining known knowledge with new ideas; for example, when purchasing a mobile phone, use the product statement and personal budget to identify benefits and costs
- Elaboration identifying and describing reasons that inform the response to an issue; for example, the reasons for using recyclable materials in packaging as a way to support sustainable use of economic resources to meet needs and wants into the future
- Elaboration identifying the potential costs and benefits of a decision; for example, deciding whether to work part-time involves identifying benefits such as earning money and recognising costs such as time on the weekend devoted to travelling to and from work
- Elaboration explaining how making an economic and business decision involves selecting one alternative over another; for example, to satisfy a particular want, a selection of goods or services is preferred or purchased over another
Students use economic and business knowledge, concepts, terms and sources to create descriptions and explanations.
Content descriptorAC9HE7S05 Skills
create descriptions and explanations, using economic and business knowledge, concepts and terms, and referencing information and data from sources
Elaborations (2)
- Elaboration developing a response to an issue that orients the audience (for example, peers or community members) to the issue, using relevant economic and business concepts and terms such as “market”, “income”, “business”, “goods and services” and “costs and benefits”
- Elaboration explaining ideas and decisions with details and examples, using data and information presented in appropriate formats; for example, visual displays, tables and graphs, or budget and savings plans, and research findings presented in appropriate formats, such as a graphic organiser or summary
About the strands
The 10 content descriptors linked to ASHASECOY7 sit under these strands.
Knowledge and understanding
The discipline knowledge and concepts students learn, connect and apply in context.
Skills
The questions, research, analysis, evaluation and communication practices used in the discipline.
A practical planning sequence
- Choose the curriculum focus. Select the core economic and business concepts students will use.
- Select a meaningful context. Build the inquiry around familiar choices, consumers, producers and enterprising activity.
- Plan connected learning. Use the linked descriptors together where that creates a coherent sequence.
- Map the evidence. Gather evidence from questions, research, interpretations, decisions and explanations.
Turn this curriculum map into a teaching sequence
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