Inquiry into the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Lowering Voting Age and Increasing Voter Participation) Bill 2018

Submission 47

I believe that the voting age should not be lowered to 16 because minors of that age do no
have enough political knowledge to have a say in issues that affect an entire nation. In
saying that a comman argument put forward is that the voting age should belowered
because these minors should have a say in their future. This is a valid argument but the
voting age now still facilititates our future generations with the ability to have a say in their
future as 18 is still very young but it is also an age where they have generally had more
experience in the work force and have much more independence. Becoming apart of the
work force and becoming independent allows these people to experience how issues will
effect them personally and will look at issues with a less biast mindset.

Many teenagers are extremely naïve and don’t have proper understanding as to how
politics actually works, giving them two years to mature and broaden their knowledge gives
them the ability to put forward educated opinions that will ensure they are able to live
realistically and happily in the future. Many people say that a large number adults also do
not posses the maturity or political knowledge to vote, obviously this is true in some cases
but in saying that 18 year olds are still more likely to posses this knowledge and experience
than 16 year olds are as they still aren’t even legal in the eyes of the law.