When I was 16, Brian Henderson read the news, the Herald was a broadsheet and the best gaming computer was the Amiga 500.

Today’s young people have an entire universe of information at their fingertips, can interact with each other across the globe in real time and are arguably more aware of social and political issues than my generation was at 16.

Australia’s voting age should remain at 18 years of age, especially because voting is compulsory.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

It’s for this reason that some argue Australia should follow the UK in reducing the voting age to 16. It’s estimated that the move will result in 1.6 million young people being allowed to cast a ballot for the first time at the next UK election.

Following last week’s announcement by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Australia’s Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek responded, “I think there’s a lot of 16-year-olds out there who take a very keen interest in politics.” Not a ringing endorsement, but neither was it a rejection of the........

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