Our Advocacy
As a youth-led democracy organisation, there is a wide range of issues that we are fighting for change on, beyond our local election campaigns. From a lowering of the voting age, and legislating more diversity in our parliaments, to better civics education in our schools or an Australian head of state, we’re dedicated to making our politics more accessible to young Australians. Here is just a small selection of the advocacy work we’ve done:
Voting Rights
The right to vote is a fundamental component of our democracy. The obligation to protect and promote the right of every citizen to universal and equal suffrage is recognised in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). At Run For It, we regularly advocate for the voting rights of young Australians, and the need for frameworks that protect these rights. You can read some of our submissions on the protection of voting rights for young Australians below.
We’ve linked up with the Australian Democracy Network to support the Framework for a Fair Democracy. We believe that for young people to best engage with our democracy, we need to recognise that corporate influence is truly undermining our democracy and making it harder for everyday Australians to have their voice heard.
The interests of young people and future generations have been left out of our national agenda for a long time. All too often, this is because our politics is tilted in favour of short-term benefits to the most powerful in our society.
As a powerful movement of young people who deeply believe that democratic systems can work better for all of us, it’s paramount that we begin to fight the power of corporate profit in our politics.
The Australian Democracy Network’s Framework for a Fair Democracy outlines three key ways our politics need to change for all of us to have a fairer and more accessible democracy. This looks like truly stamping out corruption, ending cash for access and leveling out the playing field in election debates.