This article reflects the views of the two authors, a father and his ‘almost 14-year-old’ son, Sebastian. It includes Sebastian’s direct responses to some of the arguments raised.

Earlier this year, journalist and author Bernard Keane made a controversial suggestion to strengthen young people’s power to influence political decision-making. Arguing that “policy decisions will affect younger voters for far longer than older voters”, he proposed a “blatantly discriminatory” voting system that age-weighs votes: the vote of a young person, for example, aged under 30, should count more at the ballot box than the vote of an older person who is over 60.

Keane’s ideas draw attention to two critical aspects of political participation and active citizenship in Australia. First, they highlight that the voices of young(er) people are insufficiently reflected in political debates and policymaking; similar concerns have previously been raised by many others. Second, Keane’s suggestion to address this democratic deficit relies on changes to the electoral system, which indicates how voting is regarded as the primary form of political participation in Australia.

Absence of youth voices in the political discourse

While Keane refers to young people who are old enough to vote, those under 18 years of age have even less access to any meaningful avenues to actively participate in the political discourse; the younger, the less.

Sebastian: When I was 10 or 11 years old, I saw a flyer from the local council that invited 12 to 25-year-old residents to complete an online survey to share what they like about their neighbourhood and what they would like the council to invest in more. I had lots of ideas, but I was not allowed to share them in this survey. I found that really unfair.

The Australian Curriculum states as one of its core goals that schooling should help students to become “active and informed citizens”. This is more than a nice-to-have element of a well-rounded education. It is foundational for our democratic system if we follow the prominent social philosopher Oskar Negt, who emphasised that “democracy is the only form of government that has to be learned”.

But are we achieving this goal?

Declining knowledge of civics and citizenship

A 2024 report by the........

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