Australia must stop dismissing young people in politics

Through the struggles of climate change, to the housing affordability crisis, one may wonder; why do young people have such little say in some of the most critical issues confronting them?

Ahead of the upcoming 2022 Federal Election, there has been little discourse by the two major party leaders about the issues affecting the young the most.

An astonishing statistic reported by the Australian Parliament House found that only 11% of all lower house members in Canberra are under the age of 40 - despite the fact that 57% of the Australian population is under the age of 40.

When attending a youth forum for young persons in politics, many echoed similar sentiments. “We’re pretty much just put to the side … when was the last time you could remember a PM addressing the youth specifically?”, Said Sophie, 19.

Accordingly, this has led to young people becoming more disillusioned by the political system in Australia. A poll conducted by the Lowy institute states that only 55% of Australians aged 18-24 acquire a favourable view of our democracy.

"A lot of these policies affect us more than older generations, I think we should have the most input", Sophie said.

Consequently, many young people now believe that politics and legislature is no longer a solution to their issues, but rather an extra barrier they have to overcome.

This has lead to extremely low voting registration figures by first time voters. It has been reported that just over half of 18 year old have enrolled to vote for the upcoming election - a far cry from elections before.

However, a shining light for the youth of Australia can be found through minor parties

Meg Watkins, 24, Animal Justice Party candidate for Corangamite made significant ground through her advocacy for climate change and is now one of the youngest candidates for the upcoming federal election.

“We need to see a lot more young people at the table, politics is just one place where young people are being failed."

Watkins maintained the fact that young people are interested in the issue that affect them, however the political arena is what lets them down.

“A lot of young people use advocacy through grassroots work but to make meaningful long-lasting change its got to be through legislature and the law”

When approached, neither liberal or labor candidates were willing to comment