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.
Harry Sekulich is a political reporter with The Daily Aus, a social media-first news outlet staffed by young journalists who are providing young Australians with “a digestible and engaging way to access the news”. Sekulich, who has previously worked at the ABC and as a general reporter for the Daily Aus, takes pride in raising the issues that matter to young people with those in political power. According to him, any journalist “worth their salt” is able to break down politics to explain how it actually impacts someone’s life.
Does The Daily Aus try to present political information in a different way to the legacy media to engage first-time voters, why or why not?
It’s a bit of industry jargon, but we talk across, we don’t talk down. That’s not to say legacy media does talk down, but often it can be really hard as a first-time news consumer or a first-time participant in the political process to pick up a newspaper or tune into a broadcast and really understand what’s happening. What we do a little bit differently when it comes to engaging first-time voters is we can have a bit more of a direct relationship with our audience. We can understand the needs of our target market, which is about 18 to 30-year-olds and the things they’re curious about.
What barriers to first-time voters have you identified with your reporting?
There are plenty. One is just a lack of information, the lack of know-how, which is the poor civics education that we have in our school system. I think schools do a really poor job of actually explaining the political process to young people and getting people excited about it. We see a lot of disengagement among younger people, because there is this sort of assumption that’s like, ‘well, I have to vote, I’m just going to show up and do it’.
The second one is just general fatigue. Journalists and the politicians themselves, and anyone that’s active in this space need to start talking to people who are what we call in a bit of a derogatory way, a ‘low information voter’, and that’s someone who is just totally disengaged from the process. I think we need to find a better way to reach those people.
How do you try and break these barriers down with your work?
Our whole platform is designed around meeting people where they’re at, trying to intercept someone who’s on a doom scroll and if they just happen to learn something about voting, then we’ve done a good job. It is a disruptive model of news, and it is a break from the legacy media outlets. We’ve tried to create a platform that is for everyone.
What are your methods for fair reporting of political issues so first-time voters can stay informed?
A counter voice and the opposition is non-negotiable. If Labor puts out a strategy or a policy, we need to hear what the Coalition is thinking, we need to hear what the Greens are saying. You also want a bit of a sense check of how people are feeling about this, or you want to go to some of the affected groups. When it comes to providing a bit of balance and context, we never just let one side feel as though they have a mouthpiece. It’s only responsible as journalists.
What are you and The Daily Aus’ priorities when it comes to choosing what issues to cover leading up to the election?
Cost-of-living is just far and away the most important issue, and it’s become such a top-order concern for young people on a scale that’s never been seen before. It speaks to the state of how society and industry is working, but also, we know that housing as an offspring of the cost-of-living issue is also deeply concerning for people, health and mental health in particular. So, when the two major parties and the Greens [or] whoever it might be, are putting forward plans to address cost of living, we know that that’s something that we need to be keeping our younger audience informed of.
How much engagement do you see among first-time voters with The Daily Aus’s political content?
We have close to 600,000 followers on Instagram, I would hazard a guess that somewhere between 100 and 150,000 would be first-time voters. The people that do get in touch with us and DM me directly or The Daily Aus or email us and say, ‘gosh, this is actually the first time this has ever made sense to me, thank you so much for just putting it into words that I can understand’.
What have you learnt is important to younger people concerning how you cover the election through your time as a political journalist?
I feel like there’s no discrimination when it comes to issues necessarily. Climate change still remains important, it’s just not rating as higher order of an issue at this election compared to previous elections for younger people. Education is something we hear a lot about.
Another key area is the amount of people who also want to learn about financial literacy. Our budget pieces do really, really well. Anything on tax does really well because on top of these younger cohorts being first-time voters, they’re also first-time taxpayers. I think being able to explain those really bread and butter financial issues for people is so important.
What advice would you give to first-time voters trying to become more politically engaged and informed?
Don’t be scared to ask questions and don’t be scared to approach people who might be wearing a Liberal t-shirt, might be wearing a Labor t-shirt, might be wearing a Greens t-shirt. Just ask them about democracy generally.
I would say, just give it a crack, you know? Even if it’s five minutes, you’re doing much better than you were yesterday and you probably would be so surprised what you can learn.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Article: Charlie Jones, A
Photo: Supplied by Harry Sekulich and is used with permission.
