Commissioner Jacqueline McGowan-Jones recommends allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in council elections

The voting age for WA council elections should be dropped to 16 as a way of piloting lowering the age for Federal and State polls, the Commissioner for Children and Young People has recommended.

The recommendation from WA Commissioner Jacqueline McGowan-Jones comes after a survey of 1780 young people found 61 per cent supported lowering the voting age for national and state elections from 18 to 16.

Most of those in favour, and nearly half of all respondents, believed voting should be optional for those under 18.

Respondents argued teens should have a say in decisions that affected their future and pointed out 16 and 17-year-olds were able to drive, work and pay taxes.

“If a 16-year-old works, they are taxed. They should should have the right to decide how such money is spent,” one teenage boy said.

But some respondents against lowering the age pointed to rights 16 and 17-year-olds did not have — such as to buying alcohol and cigarettes, and argued they lacked maturity.

“Most probably don’t even understand the system,” a teenage girl said.

Ms McGowan-Jones recommended piloting voting in local government elections.

She said this would allow younger voters to “engage with issues directly affecting their communities”.

Voting in WA local government elections is non-compulsory for adult citizens, and is officially non-partisan.

“This phased approach will provide data on their engagement and impact, helping refine the policy before extending it to national elections,” Ms McGowan-Jones said in her report.

The commissioner said voting should be optional for those younger than 18, if the age was lowered.

Federal WA Greens senator Jordan Steele-John introduced a bill to drop the voting age in 2018, but the proposed legislation went nowhere.

In the UK, the new Labour Government campaigned on a promise to lower the age to 16, but has not made in a priority for its first year in power.