Media Release 2005: Youth Electoral Study finds link between political engagement and youth voting behaviour

13 October 2005

The engagement of youth in political activity is likely to be related to their intention to vote, according to findings in the second report of the longitudinal Youth Electoral Study being conducted by the University of Sydney and the Australian National University (ANU), and supported by the Australian Electoral Commission and the Australian Research Council.

Researchers conducting the large-scale survey of 4855 senior secondary school students from 153 schools across Australia, and group interviews from students in 16 electoral divisions, released the second report from the study today, expanding on the findings of the first report published in December 2004.

"Based on the responses from students surveyed, those who feel strongly enough to openly display their views through acceptable forms of political action such as signing petitions and demonstrating, are also students who feel strongly about voting," say the authors of the report, Dr Larry Saha (ANU), Associate Professor Murray Print, (Sydney), and Dr Kathy Edwards (Sydney).

Other key findings from the study suggest that students' participation in school elections, either by voting in school elections or by standing as a school candidate, is positively related to their intention to vote in Federal elections when aged 18, even if voting was not compulsory.

""Results from the study indicate that student participation in school democracies seems to provide students with a positive hands-on experience for general political participation when they become an adult," Saha, Print and Edwards said.

The report establishes that the experiences of young adults in secondary school political activities can have beneficial effects on their attitudes towards their adult political behaviour and their intention to engage in adult activities such as voting in Federal elections.

For further information, read the full report on the AEC website www.aec.gov.au

Media enquiries:

Dr Larry Saha
Australian National University
Ph: (02) 6125 2132

Associate Professor Murray Print
University of Sydney
Ph: (02) 9351 3202

Brien Hallett
Assistant Commissioner
Public Awareness, Media and Research
Ph: (02) 6271 4477