Young people are driving some of the biggest cultural shifts in Australia (and the world) right now, from striking from climate to demanding better consent education. Imagine how much faster we could cement these changes in law if… teenagers could vote, too? That’s the argument at the core of MakeIt16, a teen-led movement to lower the voting age to 16, allowing youth to actively participate in shaping their future. We spoke to Harper Forsythe and Ben Ware, dedicated members of the campaign who are currently in Year 12, about why young Australian voices need to be formally be heard in the political landscape
Zee Feed: What’s been the response to the campaign from other students at school, your parents, teachers…?
Harper: It’s been a really wide positive reception from young people, especially around me. In Adelaide as a whole, everyone has been, like, insanely for it, which has been so heartening to see. Every teacher I’ve told about it has been very keen because they know so many young people who really care about voting and politics. My parents are all for it, but they’re quite biased!
Ben: I think we see that young people engage with politics differently to how adults expect us to. I think that we’ve very narrowly defined what political engagement can look like for young people. My peers participate politically, but also are incredibly engaged in their communities. When we see young people excited about politics that’s brilliant, but we also see young people excited about sports leadership positions and volunteer commitments. These reflect how incredibly passionate we are for this kind of reform, because it allows us to exercise those responsibilities and participate in a way that goes beyond what we’ve been limited to. We can now actually represent those communities by voting.
To hear young people are excited about a legislative reform like this might not be what adults expected, but it’s what I’m seeing from my peers, and people I know from school.
Obviously you are both very engaged, interested and involved in politics and political discourse, which is incredible. But what about teens who don’t follow #AusPol or don’t care about voting?
Harper: A lot of young people don’t have any staunch opposition to the issue, it’s more of confusion about why we’d want this, what it would look like, and how it would impact their day-to-day. Addressing that is just about having a chat and educating young people [on what it means], because I think we tend to underestimate ourselves. Some people think we magically change when we’re allowed to buy alcohol for the first time at 18, when in reality that’s not true.
Ben: I do interact with teenagers that are not as interested. Their resistance to the idea isn’t from a place of apathy or disengagement, but because there’s this underlying lack of conviction that they deserve to feel hopeful about our futures. The current legislative actions that we’re seeing don’t reflect out needs – we don’t feel confident in our futures, that our futures are safeguarded and protected by legislation.
So I just want to remind teens who are a bit uncertain about lowering voting age: We are experiencing the consequences of decisions day to day. Don’t fall for the fallacy of believing it you have to be the most confident articulate or educated person in the room in order to deserve to have a say.
What’s been the most effective reasoning to convince people who were initially skeptical about lowering the voting age?
Harper: Older people definitely love ‘taxation without representation’, because it rhymes — it’s a really easy way for them to understand. I think understanding tax and finance on a personal scale is a lot closer to them. Whereas young people, I really just talk to them about issues they care about. Obviously the school strikes have been major for my generation. I know so many people who attended or organized, and telling them that there’s more we could do to get the government to listen to us is convincing. You’ve shown that you care about these issues and we deserve to have a say on things like climate and housing… we could do that by voting!
Ben: The crux of the argument is that young people now carry a lot of responsibility in this society. As 16- and 17-year-olds our responsibilities are increasing, therefore our rights should as well. We work, we pay taxes, we can enlist in the military. If we’re participating in an economy that we have no say in, or are engaged in a society that we have no say in, or defending a country that we have no say in… then we’re not upholding the right to vote in this country, which is clearly defined in the Constitution and in the covenant of Civil and Political Rights.
There are over 850,000, teenage workers aged 15 to 19 in this country. Lowering the voting age not only makes democracy stronger, but it reinforces Australia’s values of ensuring that everyone gets a fair go.
How should young people respond when they get push back on this topic from adults and older people?
Harper: My advice is to be yourself and know your audience. Something I always do when I’m talking to someone like that is just bring it back to my real life. The issue feels too far away from the everyday for some older people, so I want them to understand the ways government policy already impacts me and how it’s really anxiety-inducing. You know, as a recipient of the NDIS, how the government decides to legislate that is a huge part of my life.
It’s about humanizing young people in their eyes and making sure they understand that we’re not a monolith. We’re not this giant amalgamation of bodies who all go to school strikes together. We’re actually individual people who are really politically informed and politically aware — that really helps people understand why we want to have a say.
Ben: I would encourage inquiring why that particular person holds the belief that young people should not have the right to vote. In my experience, most adults are supportive of the reform once the actual evidence and descriptions of outcomes has been provided. Adults want to see young people engaged! There’s a lot of conversation around young people being politically disengaged, but when we’re asking the question ‘Why?’ it’s because those systems are not friendly to young people. Analysis on the effects of lowering voting age in Austria and Wales found that voting age reforms actually had a positive effect on turnout. And so it really is just a positive outcome for everyone.
We talk about things like young people frequently being excluded from the demands that affect their lives, such as employment, education, housing, tax, and also the environment. Due to their lack of enfranchisement, people aged 16 to 17 cannot hold governments to account which results in Youth Affairs seldom being a priority. I think adults recognize the importance of creating and safeguarding the futures of young people through the actions of government.
If the campaign is successful, what other changes does Australia need to make to prepare 16 and 17 year-olds to vote in an informed way?
Ben: Lowering the voting age is an incentive for educational institutions to update their curriculum to include voting and civic participation. It will build up strong habits, healthy habits for young people, because they’ll be in a more stable environment [when they start voting]. When we look at 18 to 20 year olds, that’s a very transitional period in their lives – you’re first gaining your independence, you’re living by yourself and voting may not be a high priority for someone in that transitional period. By lowering the voting age, we’re encouraging civics education and building that habit for young people.
Harper: Nothing magically changes when you’re 18. [As it currently stands] there is no radical difference in your access to political education between 16 and 18. Sixteen year olds do generally understand politics, which is a great thing! We’re not too scared about [having to make big structural changes].
Smart people read more:
How Do We Improve Australian Democracy? Experts Give Us 5 Surprisingly Simple Answers
Lowering voting age boosts long-term participation in elections
2022 Australian Federal Election: Results from the Australian Election Study
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