More than 17.2 million Australians will be enrolled for the upcoming 2022 federal election. More than 700,000 voters enrolled in the last week, most of whom will be voting for the first time ahead of the federal election in May.
The enrolment rate now sits at 96 per cent of eligible Australians, the same as the record high set in 2019.
Monday, which was the last day to enrol, saw the biggest single day of enrolment in Australian history with 214,000 enrolment applications received.
Ellie Zillfleisch is one of these new voters who recently turned 18. The ANU philosophy and science student, who is originally from Cairns, said she was very excited to finally be able to vote.
"When you're 16, you can get a job and and you're paying taxes, but you can't actually have your voice heard," she said.
Only 55 per cent of all eligible 18-year-olds were registered to vote as of March 2022, however the closing of the electoral roll before the upcoming election has encouraged thousands more to enrol.
"There's been a big push for young people to vote and there has been a lot more awareness around how to vote and how to enrol compared to other elections," Ellie said.
She thinks her generation is less likely to vote the same as their parents, but acknowledges that not everyone her age is as politically concerned.
"I feel like my generation is less likely to do the whole 'My Dad voted for X party so I'm gonna vote for X party' rather than be more informed of political policies and leanings," she said.
"It's 50/50 in the sense that there's some of us who are really keen to vote and who are very much aware of policy and politics in general and then there's a lot who are just like, "older people, because there's so many of them, they're gonna get a Coalition government in so we don't care and we're just gonna go with it."
For Ellie, climate action, an anti-corruption commission and more female representation in politics and leadership roles are front of mind when she will be casting her first vote.
An Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) spokesperson said young people are generally less likely to enrol to vote, with only 85 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds already enrolled before the election was called.
However they anticipate the enrolment rate to have increased to around 88 per cent, similar to the 2019 election.
"Obviously it's not as good as the broader population, but youth enrolment around the world isn't as good as broader populations. In fact, the youth enrolment rate in Australia of 80 per cent or thereabouts is better than most countries in their entirety," he said.
"So it's good, we're pleased. We'd always want it to be more, we want it to be 100 per cent if we could."
Intifar Chowdhury, associate lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations, said there are many reasons why young people don't register to vote or fail to update their details and fall off the electoral roll.
"When people become eligible to put their names in the voters' register by enrolling, that's usually a very key transitory period in young people's life. They are finishing school and moving out and that means that you don't have a stable residence, and when you don't have a stable residence, there is a higher chance of falling out of the register."
She also believes there is a generational change with young people actively moving away from policy-directed processes like voting, due to both a distrust of politicians and lack of youth representation in Parliament.
"If you're looking to issues that affect young people the most and the way they're being handled or the way they're being pushed down the rungs of political priority, obviously, you will see why young people would have reasons to feel disillusioned," she said.
"It's sad that the political structure has not adapted to all, the things that affect us change."
