Why there’s a push to get more young people elected to local councils

Amid increasing youth political disengagement and falling faith in democracy, a campaign has launch to encourage more young people to enter politics.

In Victorian local councils, the majority of councillors are men aged over 46.

Meanwhile, in federal politics, less than two per cent of MPs are under 35.

In both cases, youth representation is falling.

Gul Khan started the Not Too Young To initiative in a bid to combat political disinterest.

She says young people don’t feel their interests are being represented, because politicians are not like them.

“Stats show that less than 10 per cent of young people believe that Australian politicians actually have their best interests at heart,” she told Ross and Russel.

“The number of councillors aged over 76 is going up. So every council election that number is going up, but the number for young people, people under 25, is decreasing.”

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