Below: On November 1, 2015, SBS current affairs program, The Feed, televised a segment dealing with Bill Shorten's proposal that the voting age be lowered to 16. (Please note, this treatment is not impartial. It ridicules Shorten as well as criticising the proposal.)
Below: On October 31, SunriseOn7 telecast a segment dealing with Bill Shorten's yet to be delivered speech at the Young Labor Conference and his proposal that the voting age be lowered to 16.
The tone of the segment is highly critical. There is no attempt at balance as both commentators oppose lowering the voting age. Bill Shorten's motives, rather than the merits of the proposal, are primarily discussed.
Below: A September, 2014, report on the referendum to determine whether Scotland should break from the United Kingdom. 16-year-old Scots were able to cast a vote. The report interviews a number of these young people regarding their voting intentions and what has influenced them.
Below: A news report from November, 2014, dealing with a British News Council report calling for a lowering of the voting age in the United Kingdom and Sky New's 'Stand Up and Be Counted' campaign also calling for greater political participation among young people.
Below: A June 2013 segment from the BBC current affairs program Question Time, in which participants were asked whether they supported 16-year-olds being able to vote in the referendum on Scotland's independence.
Web links, documents
On November 20, 2015, The Guardian published a comment by Michael White in which he discusses a range of arguments for and against lowering the voting age, finally stating that to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote is inconsistent as this age group is not generally seen as mature or independent.
The full text of this comment can be accessed at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2015/nov/19/should-16-year-olds-be-allowed-to-vote
On November 10, 2015, the ABC's current affairs program Behind the News (which aims to explain contemporary events to young viewers) televised a segment on Bill Shorten's proposal to extend the voting age to 16.
The treatment supplies arguments for and against the proposal.
A full transcript can be accessed at http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4345701.htm
On November 2, 2015, Mamamia published an opinion piece by Maggie Kelly arguing that 16- and 17-year-olds are too immature to be given the right to vote.
The full text of this argument can be accessed at http://www.mamamia.com.au/bill-shorten-16-year-old-voters/
On May 31, 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald published a comment by George Williams, the Anthony Mason Professor of law at the University of New South Wales. The opinion piece is titled 'Lowering the voting age to 16 would be good for democracy' and offers a number of arguments in support of a reduction in the age at which young people are eligible to vote.
The full text of the comment can be accessed at http://www.smh.com.au/comment/lowering-the-voting-age-to-16-would-be-good-for-democracy-20150531-ghdcyq.html
On March 7, 2013, the Australian Electoral Commission issued a discussion paper considering the arguments put for and against the lowering of the voting age.
Though the author, Professor Ian McAllister, is cautious in his conclusions, the paper notes 'The evidence presented here suggests relatively little empirical support for main arguments used by advocates of lowering the voting age.'
The full text of this paper can be accessed at http://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/research/caber/3b.htm
