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‘Participating’ vital for Children and Young People’s Health and Wellbeing:
Future Healthy Countdown 2030 Calls for Lowering the Voting Age to 16
The Future Healthy Countdown 2030 is a vital framework and hard-hitting consensus statement designed to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Supported by Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), the Countdown launches amid pressing issues such as growing wealth inequalities, the climate crisis, and high rates of mental distress, all of which disproportionately affect Australia’s next generation of children and young people.
This year’s Countdown issue in the Medical Journal of Australia focuses on the importance of ‘Participating’, as one of seven interconnected domains required to ensure young people can thrive. Within this domain, the Countdown advocates for lowering the voting age to 16 years, designed to redistribute power, empower young people, and strengthen the political system in addressing inequities and fostering an inclusive society.
The young authors and leading experts outline how voting participation is essential for ensuring diverse voices are represented in government, resulting in policies that reflect the needs and interests of the entire community. By exploring the relationship between political participation and health outcomes, it positions voting as not just a democratic right, but a strategic intervention, enhancing public health.
Author, youth advocate and medical student, Planning Saw, says “Young people face distinct challenges to their mental health, climate stability, economic security and overall wellbeing—challenges they deserve a voice in shaping.
If they’re trusted at 16 to drive, work, and make critical medical decisions, why not to vote? Allowing young people a say in the policies affecting them isn’t just fair—it’s vital for a healthier, more inclusive society, which considers intergenerational issues.”
Professor Susan Sawyer added, “There is no single age that we become ‘adult’. Yet it is interesting to consider the current debate about the age that young people can be held criminally responsible and the implications of this for voting.
In the Northern Territory 10-year-olds are now considered old enough to be held criminally responsible. By this logic, 16-year-olds being able to vote feels like a no-brainer. Yet reducing the voting age to 16 would certainly put politicians on notice as young people are far more impressed with fairness and principles than power play.”
Participation ensures that diverse voices and perspectives are heard in government, leading to policies that reflect the needs and interests of the entire community.
Dr Monique Ryan, Federal Member for Kooyong, said:
“Voting is a human right in a democracy. Early participation in the electoral process will improve young people’s engagement and give them a real sense of agency over the issues that matter most to them.”
Annually until 2030, the Countdown will unite Australia’s best minds and young voices, publishing insights to drive change. It will serve as a powerful public accountability tool, assessing the health and wellbeing of Australia’s children and young people and tracking progress in key areas to hold those in power accountable.
The MJA issue, titled “Future Healthy Countdown 2030: Participating for health and wellbeing of Australia’s children and young people” is now available in the Medical Journal of Australia here and via the ARACY website here.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Caitlin Tanham at Fifty Acres e) caitlin@fiftyacres.com
Notes to editor: Future Healthy Countdown 2030 is based on the Nest wellbeing framework, created by Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), which outlines six domains (valued, loved, and safe, material basics, healthy, learning, participating, positive sense of identity and culture) as a way of thinking about the whole context of a child’s daily life and the elements they need to thrive. The Countdown added a seventh domain, ‘environments andsustainable futures’ given the threat climate change presents to young people’s lives.
