2015/20:Should the voting age in Australia be lowered to 16?





Introduction to the media issue

Video clip at right:
This Australian National University clip was published on Apr 3, 2013. Whether to lower the voting age in Australia has long been debated. A recent study based on Australian Election Study results, compiled by ANU Political Science Professor Ian McAllister, has found that the main arguments to support lowering the voting age do not stack up. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.


What they said...
'People under 18 can leave school, get a job, drive a car and pay taxes. They can also enlist in the Australian defence forces, become a parent and, in exceptional circumstances, get permission to marry. If the law permits them to undertake these activities, it is hard to see why they cannot also vote'
Professor George Williams, University of New South Wales

'In Australia, the age of appearing in an adult court and being free to marry is 18 in most circumstances... here are relatively few activities which have a minimum age of 16, with the exception of the age of consent and holding a firearms licence. In short, there is only partial evidence to support an equity argument'
Professor Ian McAllister, Australian National University

The issue at a glance
On October 31, 2015, federal Labor leader, Bill Shorten, pledged his party's support for a lowering of the voting age to 16 in Australia, should his party be returned to government.
Mr Shorten made this promise as part of an address to the New South Wales Young Labor conference.
The proposal immediately met with opposition from some prominent government spokespeople. Response from political scientists and from media commentators has been mixed; with some seeing it as an overdue reform and others considering it ill-judged.