Mortgages, Monetary Policy & Mild Panic: Inside UNSW’s Empower Her Workshop
Authored by Aditi Kiran, a year 12 student high school student
Published on the 11 May 2026 by UNSW Business School EDI Team
Held at the UNSW CBD Campus, UNSW Business School welcomed over 60 Year 11 and 12 students from across Greater Western Sydney for the 2026 Empower Her: From Financial Confidence to Property Ownership workshop.
Across two days, students explored everything from budgeting, borrowing, and interest rates to superannuation, housing affordability, and the long-term realities of financial independence.
Delivered by UNSW faculty and industry professionals, the workshop encouraged students to think critically about both personal finance and the systems shaping Australia’s property landscape.
In the reflection that follows, Year 12 student Aditi Kiran shares her experience navigating the world of mortgages, monetary policy, and fictional financial case studies that became surprisingly emotional very quickly. Her account offers an honest and insightful perspective on what happens when financial literacy becomes a little too real.
There’s a running joke among teenagers right now that none of us are ever moving out. Every time someone mentions Sydney property prices, the collective response is basically just nervous laughter and “guess I’ll live with my parents until I’m thirty.”
So, when I walked into the UNSW Business School Empower Her Workshop and saw words like borrowing, deposits, asset protection, and the property game plastered across the itinerary, my first thought was genuinely: oh. We’re confronting the crisis head-on.
Nothing says “empowerment” quite like calculating hypothetical mortgage repayments before 10am.
Held over two days at the UNSW CBD campus, the workshop focused on financial literacy, property ownership, and the realities of navigating long-term financial security as women in Australia. Which sounds intimidating in theory, but the entire program was designed in a way that felt surprisingly engaging rather than overwhelming.
The experience centered around a case study following a fictional woman named Zara throughout different stages of her life and career. Each group was assigned a different version of Zara depending on her profession: public sector, corporate, STEM, entrepreneurship, academia, creative industries, or specialist careers.
My group was assigned Public Sector Zara.
And somehow, within the space of about an hour, we all became deeply emotionally invested in this fictional woman’s financial future.
We were discussing her salary progression, HECS debt, savings timeline, borrowing capacity, superannuation, and future home ownership prospects with the intensity of concerned financial advisors. At one point, someone in my group said “No, but Zara deserves financial stability,” which perfectly captured the collective energy of the room.
The first workshop, Finance Fundamentals: Borrowing, Budgeting & Deposits, was led by Nicola Powell, Community Partnership Manager at Clovelly Community Bank, alongside Associate Professor Kristle Romero Cortés, School of Banking and Finance. Instead of making finance feel inaccessible or overly technical, they broke everything down in a way that actually felt practical.
Concepts like deposits, borrowing capacity, and budgeting suddenly became less like abstract “adult problems” and more like systems we could realistically understand.
Which was both reassuring and mildly horrifying.
The workshop on Understanding Interest Rates & the RBA, presented by Joanna Bleakley, RBA Economic Analysis, was probably one of the moments where everything became a little too real.
Before this, the Reserve Bank mostly existed in my brain as one of those vaguely intimidating institutions adults mention whenever mortgages become part of the conversation. But suddenly we were learning how monetary policy directly impacts interest rates, inflation, housing affordability, and financial decision-making.
It turns out the economy is unfortunately very connected to our lives.
One of the highlights of the first day was the Industry Panel Discussion and Q&A, moderated by Mahek Patel, Bachelor of Actuarial Studies/Commerce, UNSW Women in Business Ambassador.
The panel featured:
- Akira Galvin, Executive Director, Property & Place, Enigma
- Betsy Westcott, CEO & Co-Founder of Millie
- Joanna Bleakley, Economic Analysis Department, RBA
- Sarah Kay, CEO, Woods Bagot, Registered Architect
All spoke about their career journeys, financial independence, and experiences navigating different industries as women.
What stood out most wasn’t just how accomplished they all were, but how approachable they felt.
There’s sometimes this assumption that professionals in finance or business will be intimidating or impossibly polished in a way that makes you feel slightly nervous to ask questions. But the panel felt genuinely conversational. Everyone was incredibly warm, insightful, and honest about both their successes and challenges. Hearing from women who were clearly intelligent and successful while still being so down-to-earth made the entire event feel far more encouraging and accessible.
And honestly, speaking to them afterwards was one of the most valuable parts of the workshop.
The afternoon workshop, Who Sets the Rules of the Property Game? was facilitated by UNSW students Muskaan Kaur, Bachelor of Commerce and Economics, and Hritika Ghosh, Bachelor of Commerce/Law, Women in Business ambassadors.
This session shifted the conversation beyond personal budgeting into broader structural questions surrounding housing affordability, property access, and financial inequality.
It stopped feeling like a simple “save more money” conversation very quickly.
Instead, we started unpacking how systems themselves influence who gets opportunities, who builds wealth more easily, and why financial security isn’t distributed equally. The discussions became noticeably deeper after that. People were asking sharper questions and thinking more critically about the realities behind property ownership rather than just the idealised version people often talk about online.
Day two somehow became even more interesting.
The workshop Love, Loans & Long-Term Protection, led by Madhvi Madhvi, Senior Tax Accountant, UNSW Tax & Business Advisory Clinic, explored asset protection, joint borrowing, and the financial implications of long-term relationships and marriage.
Which sounds like the kind of topic teenagers would immediately disengage from, but it was actually one of the most eye-opening sessions of the entire program.
Mainly because it highlighted how financial decisions are rarely isolated from relationships, gender expectations, or life circumstances.
Then came The Super Gap & Career Break Shock with Dr Xiao Xu, School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, which focused on the long-term impacts of career interruptions and unpaid labour on women’s superannuation and financial stability. This workshop in particular made a lot of people in the room visibly reflective.
The idea that caregiving responsibilities and career breaks can significantly alter someone’s financial future over decades is not something most teenagers spend time thinking about – but after this session, it became impossible not to.
What made the entire workshop so effective was that it never spoke down to us.
None of the presenters simplified issues to the point of being patronising, but they also didn’t hide behind complicated jargon or corporate language. Everything felt practical, relevant, and genuinely important.
The final challenge of the workshop involved presenting our financial blueprint for Zara and answering one key question: At which life stage should Zara buy property, and why?
By that point, every group had spent two full days analysing their version of Zara’s career trajectory, financial risks, savings capacity, and long-term goals. Public Sector Zara had become oddly real to us. We wanted her to succeed. We wanted her to afford property without collapsing under financial pressure. We wanted her hypothetical retirement plan to actually work out.
Which is probably the most emotionally attached anyone has ever been to a fictional spreadsheet.
The presentations were judged by:
- Dr Faiza Majid, School of Banking and Finance
- Emma Thompson, NSW Deputy Executive Director at Property Council of Australia
- and Monique Munro, Communications Officer, Career Accelerator
What made it even better was that they weren’t intimidating in the way you’d expect from a “judging panel” moment. They were genuinely engaged, asking thoughtful questions, pushing our reasoning, and responding in a way that made it feel more like a conversation than an interrogation.
Listening to each group was honestly one of the most interesting parts of the entire experience because every career pathway produced completely different financial outcomes and priorities.
- Entrepreneur Zara dealt with instability and risk
- Corporate Zara balanced higher income with different pressures
- STEM Zara had entirely different progression structures, and so on.
No two financial blueprints looked the same. There was even a Zara (Larsson) complete with consistent references to her colourful discography!
And I think that was ultimately the most important takeaway from the entire experience.
Although, to be clear, there is still a very real possibility I’ll be living with my parents at thirty.
At least now I’ll understand the monetary policy behind it.
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