There’s a whole generation of new kids on the block — almost all under 30, relatively left-leaning and with little allegiance to major parties — who throw a huge dose of uncertainty and challenges into the 2025 election mix.

Gen Z — that group born between 1995 and 2010 — is now a significant part of the voting population and many of them will lodge their ballots in a federal election for the first time in May.

Australia is at a demographic tipping point as it prepares to vote. For the first time in decades the Baby Boomers who grew up in the decades just after World War II are no longer the dominant voting bloc.

Gen Z and the Millennials, that group born between 1980-1994 who came of age early in the 21st century, now combine to represent a greater part of the electorate.

The 2022 federal election showed that Gen Z comprises the most ideologically left-leaning, least major party-oriented and most issue-based voters.

They are also the most likely to be swing voters and change voting decisions during the election campaign.

Yet, there remain uncertainties around how the youngest voting cohort will vote this time around, especially with gender fault lines appearing in political ideology in comparable democracies around the world.

Gen Z, much like their older Millennial cousins, have faced a longer transition to adulthood, with traditional milestones such as stable employment, home ownership and parenthood delayed compared with previous generations.

They are coming of age in a precarious and casualised labour market where they need a higher level of education for even low-paid jobs, saddling them with larger........

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