If a 16-year-old can join the army, they should be allowed to vote

At 16, our children are legally allowed to drive a car and, in most Australian states and territories, consent to sex. They can go to the doctor without our knowledge and fill the prescription given to them. In some states, they can apply for housing. And if their parents are on board, they can even join the army.

More than ever before, teenagers have grown older, younger. Many have their own online businesses, write and sell their own music, and have audiences our politicians employ whole offices to chase.

Yet they are not still allowed to vote in state or federal elections. It’s as old-fashioned as one can imagine, for several reasons.

In most cases, a 16-year-old Australian in 2022 is very different from their parents at the same age. They might not have embarked on the same adventures, or found strife in the same way, but they are cluey and connected in a way unique to their generation.

They understand bitcoin and its underlying technology, when their parents only pretend they do. They know geography in a way we couldn’t learn from the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. And they are engaged and want a say in their future — and we should be embracing that.

Many teenagers are leaving home at this age. They are registering as blood donors, and for tax file numbers and superannuation accounts. They have jobs and own small stock accounts that they hope will one day balloon into big ones.

Indeed, an Australian 16-year-old can even register to vote. But that’s just teasing — they’re not permitted to write on the ballot paper and pop it into the ballot box for two more years.

Ironically, perhaps, it is Donald Trump we need to thank for our teenagers’ political engagement. He was loud and brash and often offensive. Australian children wanted something and someone better than that, and they joined TikTok and a host of other platforms to discuss it.

This took place not just in America, but in their own country, too, where former prime minister Scott Morrison dismissed their generation as kids who didn’t deserve a view. An obvious example was the youth interest in climate change rallies. Instead of listening to what they had to say, the message they heard was that they were better off in the classroom learning trigonometry. 

But here’s the thing: this generation is pretty adept at multi-tasking. They can eat, text and surf the net while packing the dishwasher. They have strong views, and they should be allowed to lodge their vote in accordance with them.

New Zealand is flirting with the idea of allowing 16-year-olds to vote after its senior court ruled that it was inconsistent with the country’s bill of rights not to allow 16 and 17-year-olds a vote. Why wouldn’t we do the same in Australia?

The AEC says 86.4% of young Australians aged 18 to 24 — 1,663,853 people — are enrolled to vote. Two years ago, this was 80%.

The Greens have, for several years now, pushed this as an issue and will do so again with independent MP Monique Ryan when Parliament resumes in 2023. But imagine if we could engage another million or so young people aged 16 to 18. What does it say to future leaders when we don’t give them a vote in the world they want to lead?

Their vote, like their parents’, will run the political spectrum. But there are some issues on which most of them agree. A passion for the environment and climate policy that endures time and political colours. A lack of judgment directed at others, whether regarding transgender laws or mental health struggles or the role of ATAR in determining their futures. A spectrum where diversity is encouraged. Where inclusion simply exists.

The pandemic left a legacy of muted teen lives, teaching them the heartache of isolation: school from their bedroom, university from their lounge room. They listened to their parents tell them this would be “the time of their lives” — but it wasn’t. That’s left many with an ongoing struggle, and should not be dismissed.

The teenagers of today care about the same issues older generations do. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The treatment of women and consent. The cost of living. The power of a new breed of politicians in the teals.

This savvy generation envelops one another, and their challenges, and works collaboratively. Is it possible that we could all learn from them?

Allowing 16-year-olds to vote would not only mean we’d hear the voice of a big chunk of the nation at the ballot box. We’d also see more MPs like them sitting in Parliament.

That should be a future that carries all our votes.

Are young people ready to have a say in the running of Australia? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.