In the lead up to the 2025 Federal Election, upstart has been speaking to first-time voters to better understand their experience as they prepare for the polls. Our Voter Voices vox pops found that first-time voters are facing a variety of different challenges. Although some of the voters we spoke to felt prepared, we saw a large majority expressing feelings of uncertainty and nervousness—or even a total lack of interest as soon as the election is mentioned. Many were also unsure of who to vote for and were overwhelmed at the thought of informing themselves on party policies. Some even said they found it easier to just vote the same as their family.
But why are first-time voters struggling to engage in Australian politics? To investigate this further, we spoke to an array of people working to lift the barriers facing the new generation of voters.
Erin Hight created ‘Humanity Bites’, to provide historical context to current affairs on social media. Hight, who has studied studied History and Sociology, and has Masters in both Law and International Relations, is well positioned to break down complex events and ideas to her audiences. In the lead-up to the May 3 election, she has focused on informing young voters and delivering explainers about politics and party policies to spark conversation among her 5,700 followers.
What’s the general sentiment you’re seeing from young people leading up to the election?
I’m getting a lot of really confused young people that have no idea how to vote. They’re quite timid in approaching politics. So, I think that quite a few young people are starting to reach out more and try to understand a bit more than in previous years.
What kind of strategies do you have in terms of having content that builds confidence with politics rather than overwhelming these often new voters?
I definitely try to use approachable language, not super high, full-on jargon and complex. When I talk about complex ideas, like preferential voting, I try to keep it as simple as possible. If people want further information, I’ve seen them reach out. I can maybe make it a bit more complex or have some time to tease out the complexities and the jargon, but just at the baseline, keep it as simple as possible.
Is there anything you’ve been unable to fully simplify, or has it been generally pretty easy?
Oh, totally. I think preferential voting is one of the biggest issues, I’m seeing people thinking their votes don’t count. So, [I’m] trying to tackle [that] because it’s a bit of misinformation I think by say the bigger parties that kind of spread this rhetoric that, ‘why not vote minor, like your votes are just going to come to us anyway’, and kind of simplifying the idea that yes, the vote actually does count, and trying to teach it in a way that is easy to understand. It’s a bit difficult.
How can we try and encourage young people to engage in discussions about voting without feeling pressured or judged?
I think that some content relies on the shame and also conflict between political parties, and that creates a bit of an unsafe space. I think I’ve certainly noticed that when I first kind of [made] content, I realized that if I said something that was quite critical about, say, Peter Dutton, then all of my comments will also be people coming with anger. And that creates a really unsafe space to learn, it’s kind of keeping emotions a little bit out of the content, which I do struggle a little bit with, as I’m sure everybody would. Just creating a space that’s purely educational.
If there was like one major change you could make to the system to try and improve that first-time voter confidence, what do you think it would be?
I think having more approachable resources is definitely the biggest thing.
What advice would you give to young voters who feel like their vote won’t make a difference?
I would encourage them to look into preferential voting and would also remind them of how many minor parties and independents there actually are in the House of Representatives, and if they do vote for a minor party or an independent, their vote does matter.
What’s one message that you’d like every first time voted to hear before May 3rd?
Policy over promises, for sure. I think, that is the biggest thing that I’m trying to discuss. Now, I don’t look at what political parties say, look at what they do.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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Photo: Supplied by Erin Hight and is used with permission.
