The Informed Voter: Improving the Political Literacy of Young Australians
August 2019
Convenors: Professor Zlatko Skrbis, Professor James Walter, Dr Zareh Ghazarian, Dr Jacqueline Laughland-Booy and Dr Tracey Arklay
A democracy operates best when its citizens understand their nation’s system of government and its democratic processes. Evidence suggests, however, that many young people in Australia may not possess sufficient knowledge about the Australian system of politics and its electoral system (e.g. how voting works and who represents them), to confidently engage in the Australian electoral process and cast an informed vote.
This workshop facilitated dialogue between scholars and practitioners about what steps need to be taken to improve the political knowledge and skills of young people in Australia.
The workshop identified a lack of studies in this field of youth and political engagement in Australia. For this reason, it was argued that further research is needed in the area of youth, political literacy and participation in Australia to explore the challenges of new forms of youth political engagement and identify potential solutions to support the political literacy of young Australians.
READ the Journal of Applied Youth Studies: Special Issue: The Political Knowledge of Young Australians relating to this workshop, HERE