Page 4094 - Week 13 - Thursday, 2 December 2021
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Earlier this year, the Assembly unanimously supported my motion calling on the government to increase civics and democracy education in ACT schools. This education is just one element of the diverse and creative options at our disposal for community engagement. I plan to continue to advocate for this education as a core component of encouraging young people to develop their political acumen even further.
The engagement of groups within our community and politics cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach, though. One of the things the ACT Greens are most proud to have accomplished in this place is to have built a more transparent and accountable government. This bill to empower young people to vote will bring about a sense of hope and excitement about civics education in schools that has not been seen before in this country. It will streamline the way the government responds to and promotes democratic engagement in the ACT and ensure that our young people are empowered to engage in ACT politics.
After all, the crux of this bill is about the human rights of young people. Research conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission found that Australian teenagers held a “keen understanding” of areas for improvement within Australian government policy. The commission also found that young people held great concern over the stigma surrounding their cohort as “incapable of making informed decisions”.
Young people are capable of making informed decisions, and they are engaging in the critical issues that are facing our society. Jodie Griffiths-Cook, the ACT Children and Young People’s Commissioner, wisely told us in our consultations:
Part of my job is to make the ACT a better place for our children and young people. Hearing and understanding their views helps us to get this right. I look forward to considering this Bill in seeking to afford young people the opportunity to influence the direction for the ACT, while ensuring that appropriate protections exist for them in doing so.
In the context of the threat of climate change, growing intergenerational inequality and these COVID lockdowns, young people need us to get this right. It is vital that we hear and understand what they have to say.
In our engagement with the ACT Human Rights Commission over this legislation, the commission also argued that young people are more than capable of making informed decisions. They said:
Setting the minimum voting age at 16 years old would be consistent with contemporary understandings about the cognitive development and maturity of young people. Enabling young people to directly participate and be heard in the democratic processes would also be consistent with article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires due weight and recognition to be given to the views of young people in accordance with their age and maturity.
There is no doubt that historically, when particular communities have been enfranchised, the issues they face have been given increased attention and concern in
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