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.
Kos Samaras is the director of Redbridge, a political consultancy firm, and is a former Labor campaign strategist. He researches the Australian public’s political opinions and voting patterns, and is an expert in polling data. His work explores the causes and effects of different political and social issues affecting Australian communities. Kos has also appeared in The Conversation and on the ABC in the lead up to the 2025 election to provide insight into the average Australians’ experiences and opinions on politics.
What do the focus groups and research say about how first-time voters feel about this election? Are they feeling confident in voting?
I think there is extremely low levels of awareness about politics in general, huge amounts of disengagement and pessimism. And that cuts across all sorts of, I would say, socio-economic tribes. So, you could be a young person in the parts of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, versus a young person in the outer suburbs. The disengagement is pretty much consistent, and the pessimism is consistent.
And of course, first-time voters are also older migrants as well, who enrolled to vote recently, for the first time, and again, very similar traits, and that is low levels of awareness, low levels of where to vote, how to vote, etc.
In 2022 and 2019, only 26 percent of Gen Z voters voted for the Coalition. Are you seeing that theme continuing?
Yeah, fragmentation. So, Gen Z voters are the most fragmented electoral cohort in the country. So about 20-something percent vote for the Coalition, 20-something percent vote for Labor, 20-something percent vote Greens, and then they spray pretty much everywhere else throughout all the other minor parties and independents. They are a generation that tactically votes as well.
They have the lowest levels of values connection with any registered local party in the country. So, under 50 percent of Gen Z voters have a values connection with any registered party, major and minor.
They have the highest levels of pessimism and scepticism about politics in general, and yes, elements of this generation are attracted by anti-establishment political movements. Now, some in the media will describe that as right-wing. It’s only because the right have been present in that conversation as being anti-establishment. Equally, some left-wing movements can capture the hearts and minds of this generation as well. So, it is the most anti-establishment generation, particularly young men.
You’ve mentioned that young people vote less for the major parties, is that much different to previous generations?
Boomers were very predictable, even when they were young. Yes, they were a little bit more progressive, but it was between Labor and Liberal.
Gen X — which is my generation — again, same thing, a little bit more progressive when younger, but still very much. They play for coals and war, so to speak, right of politics, which is Labor and Liberal.
Millennials, very similar to Gen Z, particularly younger Millennials, vote less for the majors and are more likely to tactically vote.
The 2025 federal election will be the first election in which Gen Z and Millennials will outnumber Boomers in every state. Do the young voters that you’ve spoken to understand this, and do they still think that their vote counts or matters?
They probably understand they are the most numerous now. So, 43 percent of the voters, what was made up of these two generations we just talked about — boomers are 32 percent to give you the contrast — and they understand that, but they have no faith that the political class are in the business of solving the problems they are facing.
They have a strong view that their lived experience and their future is going to be one of lesser standard to that of their parents. Obviously, that applies with housing and a whole range of other issues. They are concerned about climate, and they think the political class are taking no action there that is significant enough to get this thing moving. And obviously, they’re concerned about the global situation as well, and I think again, that the political class is not fit for purpose in dealing with that.
You’ve mentioned that young people don’t have any faith in how things are going to move forward in politics – is that the biggest barrier for young people who aren’t interested in voting?
That’s right. And look, to be fair to them, there’s a lot of proof points. I think the older Australians have let young Australians down immensely, particularly with regards to housing and particularly with regards to dealing with some of the issues that young Australians are going to have to deal with way beyond the lifespan of older Australians. So, there’s absolutely no reason for young Australians to think otherwise.
And look, another thing that we know is that non-turnout, so people not turning out to vote. Young Australians are disproportionately represented in that group as well.
You said earlier that over half of Millennials and Gen Z say that a political party doesn’t align with their values. Why do you think that is? What’s stopping them from identifying with those values?
Well, if you go across the selection, it’s asking this young generation to go into a shopping centre that sells a whole bunch of products they don’t want. There’s nothing there that actually appeals to them.
If you look at the minor parties — One Nation again — that’s a political movement that was born out of the Baby Boomer generation. Again, Palmer’s United, well, that’s just a joke. Young people don’t take him seriously. Greens have been around for as long as young people [have] been alive, right? So they’re now looked upon as the establishment. Having said that, Greens do a lot better with this generation than any other generation in the country.
That 50 percent I’ve talked about, they just think that whoever’s actually registered in this country as a political movement just doesn’t represent them. And unfortunately, that’s the reality.
In your experience, is there anything that Australian politics could do to appeal to those younger audiences?
I mean, basically, they need to start aggressively addressing the existential problems young people are facing in this country. … And it’s not every young person. There are young people who’ve got wealthy parents who are going to allow them to buy a home and so on, but the majority of young people just don’t have this luxury. For example, you’re going to university. You’ve been told, go to university, study hard, you’ll get a good job, sure, but then that job won’t give you access to the ability to buy a home.
Fundamentally, the social contract has broken down. That’s fundamentally what political parties need to do if they want to attract young people, and that is, represent them. At the moment, the Greens are speaking their language, but [they’re] not in the position to impact any policy change.
What sort of things have young voters offered as solutions or ways to become more interested in politics and more knowledgeable about voting?
They’re just not interested in getting involved. They think it’s kind of like asking them to go to an event that is overwhelmingly dominated by older Australians who don’t speak their language. These are aliens. Political parties to young Australians are like outdated organisations that don’t represent their views of the world, and so it’s very difficult to find a way to get people interested in that space.
A lot of young Australians are interested in individual issues. They might be interested in particular spokespersons around a particular policy area. They will follow a particular podcast that is interesting, that is politically orientated. So, it’s not necessarily political parties, but political entities, and that’s already happening. So, they are the most politically — I wouldn’t say politically active or politically aware — but they have far more access to political information. But it’s not the information that applies to Australian politics. So, it could be a podcaster in the US, for example, talking about a particular issue.
Personally, what do you think are some ways to break down those barriers that are stopping younger people and first-time voters from being more aware?
That responsibility sits in the hands of older Australians who currently run those political organisations. They need to reform how they function, and they function like a political organisation that belongs in the last century, right? I’ll give you an example on the Labor side of politics, you’ve got branch meetings — and the Liberals do this as well — that occur late at night during a weekday, at a pub or some RSL, and people get together and talk about politics. Well, young people’s world is online. Why the hell would you turn up to some pokies venue to talk about politics with a bunch of people who want to talk about whether the local bus stop was funded or not, when you’re interested in American politics.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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Photo: Supplied by Kos Samaras and is used with permission.
