This week I have that old Dragon song from the late 70s in my head, Are You Old Enough — because I read that the UK government plan to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 before the next national election (to be held no later than August 2029).

Several jurisdictions have done this, though it remains uncommon. Austria, Argentina, Scotland, Wales, and some German states are among those that have made changes to enfranchise younger voters. The trend is growing gradually, with more jurisdictions considering similar measures.

Opponents of the change cite several key concerns, including insufficient brain development and maturity; lack of life experience which would limit understanding of policy consequences; that young people have not completed their education and may lack the knowledge base to evaluate complex political issues; susceptibility to influence — whether from peers, social media, parents or teachers; and inconsistency with other legal rights.

Advocates argue that 16-year-olds are affected by political decisions and should have a voice in them, especially on issues like education policy and climate change that will significantly impact their futures.

Labor and the Greens (federally) talk about the valued principles of equality, intergenerational justice, and equity; however, they differ in the practical implementation (and ultimately hierarchical prioritisation) of these principles. The Greens support lowering the voting age, though they prefer voluntary voting for 16–17-year-olds. The Labor Party’s support is conditional on voting being compulsory for 16- and 17-year-olds, should reform be implemented. Locally, the ACT Greens have previously sought to bring in this change and it was opposed by Labor and the Liberals.

Many commentators believe it is in the strategic interest of the Labor and Greens parties to support the lowering of the voting age, as younger voters tend to be more progressive. The ideological differences held by the major parties seem to be the main obstacle to reform.

However, it should be an opportunity for all parties, including the Liberals, to face up to the fact that they need to pay attention to younger voters and develop real policy offerings that appeal to them. The Coalition’s low support among young voters in recent elections may be a symptom of a long-lasting shift that won’t change without considerable effort from the party.

I would argue that if this change occurs, voting should be compulsory: this has served our democracy well for a century. Voluntary voting enables youth electoral disengagement at the polls, which has happened in other non-compulsory voting democracies. Given their life stage, young people are more likely to abstain if voting is voluntary. This could reinforce a habit of abstention.

Britain’s voting age last fell in 1969, when the UK became one of the first major democracies to lower it from 21 to 18. Many other countries, including Australia in 1973, followed suit within years. Now that Britain has taken this step, I believe we are on an inevitable path towards lowering the voting age in Australia to include 16- and 17-year-olds, so the sooner the parties embrace this, the better.

For further discussion on this topic, head to Bite-sized politics (around 15 minutes easy listening) on Spotify.