Young Victorian voters torn between disillusionment, optimism

Young voters across regional Victoria say the issues that matter most to them are close to home, but they are getting little information about state politics, often relying on social media and word of mouth.

Many the ABC spoke to said they were not satisfied with the political status quo and were turning to alternative parties.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) said people aged between 18 and 44 would be pivotal to the outcome of this month's state election, making up 44 per cent of the vote.

Mildura Rural City youth council deputy mayor Ollie Edens wants the youth voice to be heard.

The recent high school graduate said that while a generation ago, young people voted in line with their parents, "very few" of his peers will do so.

He said social media was driving young people to make their own voting choices.

"I've seen young people getting more of an independent conscience when it comes to politics, and they're very determined on that," he said.

Mr Edens is travelling to Melbourne as he has not found the training course he needs in Mildura, and would like to see a greater focus on supporting young people to stay in regional areas.

Wodonga student Jack Dumsday relies on his wheelchair to get around and said he was concerned about Wodonga's public transport system.

"Wodonga is not a small town by any means, and we have an abysmal bus network. I'd love to see that improve," he said.

Picking the 'lesser of evils'

Charlie Bradbury, who lives in the Ovens Valley electorate in north-east Victoria, said she would be "picking the lesser of the evils".

The 22-year-old is on the youth advisory committee at the North East Support & Action for Youth (NESAY) community agency, which works with young people and families to provide safe housing, education and employment.

Despite her dissatisfaction with the political landscape, Ms Bradbury said the Greens' policies around rent freezing and publicly owned local supermarkets were appealing.

She said she would approach her vote with a "gender-based" focus.

"[That's] purely because the present violence against women epidemic is absolutely abysmal," she said.

Since 2025, One Nation has surged in polls across Australia, recently claiming four lower house seats in the South Australian election.

Ms Bradbury said she had seen this rise and while she noticed it more in "older generations", it was not limited to that demographic.

"It does kind of feel like we've taken a step backwards — the younger generation," she said.

Young voters to have 'huge impact' on election outcome

Monash University associate professor of politics Zareh Ghazarian said there would be "thousands" of first-time voters who will have a "huge impact" in determining the outcome in this election.

Dr Ghazarian studied how young and first-time voters approached their first time at the ballot box.

"We identified that, of course, young people have rich and many different reasons as to who they decide to vote for," he said.

"And they do reflect in broad ways the sorts of strategies and preferences older voters demonstrate."

He said young voters could be divided into two categories: those who research candidates, their policies and ideas, and those who look at how their parents and friends voted.

"When you have such a high proportion of young people in Victoria, the decisions they're going to make may potentially be the key to the major parties or any party, any candidate in any electorate winning the seat," Dr Ghazarian said.

Young voters still have faith in politics: GetUp

Conal Feehely, the Victorian campaign director for GetUp, which is an independent movement of more than one million people aiming to bring participation back into our democracy, said young people were "frustrated".

"Young Australians are facing the prospect of having a lower standard of living than their parents had, and that's a really heavy burden," he said.

"They're [also] facing enormous student debt … enormous increases to their rent and still don't see a prospect of owning a home."

Mr Feehely said young people "want a type of politics that's hopeful and gives them answers and they're not seeing a lot of that right now".

Youth have long played vital role in political activism: analyst

Dr Ghazarian said it was unsurprising young people were tackling the current political landscape through protests, saying this had long been the case in Australia and abroad.

"Many young people are leading figures in international movements such as those concerned with environmental protection, conservation and social justice," he said.

Not only did young people lead political debate, but they also responded to it, he added.

"Young people are using their ability to protest, their ability to have their say in public views and they're having a go,"

Dr Ghazarian said.

Hamish Knight and Dylan Stockwell organised a rally against One Nation last month, which saw about 100 students march through Bendigo.

Hamish, 17, is concerned the party is dividing Australia and believes people need to "start fighting back".

Mr Feehely said he believed young people tended to be "a bit more blank canvas than other demographics".

He said this "opens the door" to influence, especially online, where young people were spending "more time … being influenced by algorithms".

But NESAY youth advisory committee's Sarah Clayton has a different take.

The 21-year-old Benambra voter said she felt uninformed about politics and saw that reflected among her peers.

Ms Clayton did not watch television and often received information through social media or word of mouth.

"I think the biggest reason [for a lack of knowledge on politics] is within my social media algorithms. It's not something that pops up very much," she said.

She said the donkey vote had become "popular" in her generation and she wanted to see more education in schools about politics.

Ms Clayton said it was common for young people to be on the receiving end of smart remarks from mates when politics was brought up.

"You're not supposed to talk about politics — it's meant to be a private thing, and it frustrates people — but I think that's exactly why it needs to be spoken about," she said.

"People are passionate about things, and this is how we get and make changes in our world. I think there is a huge lack of understanding within youth and a lot of the Australian population in general about the importance of voting."