Do you remember turning 18 and suddenly being expected to have an opinion and vote for a political party?
Maybe you remember feeling pretty clueless the first time you stumbled your way into a cardboard polling booth.
A new program is hoping to change the way young people are introduced to democratic processes.
In an Australian first, kids aged between 11 and 17 in the regional mining town of Mackay in Queensland are voting on their very own "youth council".
The Foundation for Young Australians has partnered with the Mackay Regional Council to set up a program where school-aged children run a campaign to be elected as a youth councillor.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland is even on board to help facilitate an "election week" where ballot boxes will be set up in schools and community spaces across the Mackay region.
An elected council of 12 will meet regularly with the Mackay Regional Council to discuss proposals addressing key issues facing young people in the region.
Mayor of Mackay Greg Williamson said while he could not guarantee a huge budget for the project, he could guarantee the council would listen.
Young people need a voice
At a town hall meeting last week, 21 candidates spoke about what they believed were the key issues affecting young people in the region.
"I believe our main issue is mental health," 14-year-old Reuben Pulikkittil said.
Thirteen-year-old Erin Hanrahan said she had noticed "an upsurge in accidents" involving young drivers.
And another 13-year-old, Caitlin Rourke, proposed an online platform for her peers to put forward their issues and ideas.
Suvannah Vella from the Foundation for Young Australians said based on the group's passion alone, "some great things are going to come out of this program".
Cara Cjuzi from Mackay Regional Council said it would be the ever first youth council democratically elected by young people in Australia.
"Our councillors would say that they don't necessarily know the right pathways to speak with young people, but that doesn't mean they don't want to hear from them," she said.
"This is a really great opportunity to introduce young people to democratic processes early … how to vote, what that even looks like.
"If that results in the age demographic of future councillors being brought down, with younger people putting their hand up because they've been introduced to the processes earlier, that can only be a great thing."
Bridget Wright, 16, said there were so many issues young people went through that got "pushed aside" by governments.
A lasting impact for young people
Cr Williamson said the voices of the youth council would be heard.
"This is going to be far from tokenistic," he said.
"There's a learning outcome for young people in this."
The councillor said if young people wanted more entertainment in Mackay, for example, "we will do the education program about how that can come to fruition".
"Our process is to build a business case for the young people to come up with what they want, what they see as the future, what's holding them back, what the problems are," he said.
It is hoped if the project is successful it will be rolled out in other locations.
