This Federal Election represents a marked shift in the voting demographics of Australia with Gen Z and Millennials outnumbering Baby Boomers for the first time.

“Canberra is a young, forward-thinking city. The median age is just over 35 years, making it the youngest capital city outside of Darwin. Canberra is a city of children, Gen Alphas, Gen Z, and Millennials” said Kirsty Dixon, CEO, Y Canberra Region.

Despite young Australians being a now influential voting demographic, they are the most under-represented age cohort in the Federal Parliament with only 8% of Federal MPs under the age of 40 years.

The Y believes our community has a responsibility to listen to young peoples’ concerns, bring them into the national conversation and act on them as a society.

Working with the RedBridge Group Australia and Monash University, the Y Australia team has recently conducted a major research project, including polling of 2,000 Australians aged under 30, to explore the influence of young Australians in the upcoming election and the key issues that affect them.

The research reveals that young voters:

• Will be significant in determining who wins the election, as they are concentrated in highly contested electorates.
• Are focused on priority issues of cost of living, housing, healthcare, climate change, crime, education, job security, economic inequality, and career advancement opportunities.
• Have strong views on some of the policies on offer on housing affordability and the cost of living.
• Have low confidence in the major parties’ ability to address their top concerns especially on the issues of housing affordability and the cost of living.
• Have mixed views on voting, with nearly half saying they would not or may not vote if it wasn’t compulsory.

Recently the Y Canberra Region’s, Youth Representative Group (YRG) have attended the Youth Forum hosted by Senator David Pocock at the Australian National University.

Left to Right: Paulina; Maeve; Patrick; Senator David Pocock; Maddie; Kirsty Dixon (Y Canberra CEO); and Kobi

“It is not surprising young people’s trust for mainstream parties and government is eroding, when you hear statistics, like one in three Federal MPs own three houses or more, when young people are couch-surfing. Young people want to see real policy and system change, and a fairer Australia that works for the children and grandchildren of Canberra and Australia” Ms Dixon concluded.

“Our Y YRG members attended the Youth Forum, hosted by Senator Pocock, not because they are interested in party politics, but because they are interested in policy and positive outcomes, and feeling seen and heard. The Youth Forum, at ANU, was like an open mic-night for Australian civics, by young people, for young people” continued Ms Dixon.  

 “There is a real issue when it comes to social cohesion right now, young people aren’t feeling heard and are being labelled as disengaged when that simply is not the case” Male, 21, Youth Representative Group Member.

“I have realised that being a woman puts me at a disadvantage, but also being a young person in this political space creates more barriers as we are perceived as less knowledgeable and are only given tokenistic involvement opportunities leaving it hard to engage and create my own civic identity.” Female, 22, Youth Representative Group Member.

The Y notes that there is not only a gap between young people engaging with the politicians that represent them but struggles for Politicians to engage with young people too.

With most young people working while studying, there are barriers to being involved in political discussions and events.

“Recently I have had opportunities to talk about my own civic identity, realising how politics have affected key areas of my life like renting a house. I believe that young people should have the opportunities to feel valued and should have accessible ways to use their voice and stories” Female, 19, Youth Representative Group Member

With the very backbone of our Australian Democracy being the voices of every Australian no matter who they are, this is an important aspect of our national identity. Why does it seem we fall short when it comes to the voices of our young people?

For more information on the Y Canberra Region, visit www.ymcacanberra.org.au