Climate change remains the most important issue for many young voters, and for first-time voter Frewoini Baume this rings true.
The 21-year-old Lismore apiarist has spent the past couple of months cleaning up properties damaged by the devastating March floods and said she had been disappointed by the response to climate change as well as Prime Minister Scott Morrison's post-disaster visit to the region.
"I don't feel represented by a prime minister who sneaks around my traumatised community," Ms Baume said.
"And I really don't feel represented by a Prime Minister who believes in miracles, yet can hold a bit of coal in his hand and tell me not to be scared and go back to school when I'm striking for climate action.
"[The government] should sign their next approval for a coal mine in front of my community who's just experienced record-breaking floods."
Like Ms Baume, multiple surveys of young people, including the ABC's Vote Compass, show the issue they care most about is climate change.
The Australian Election Study, conducted after every federal election since the late 1980s, has also found "a growing generational divide in the voting behaviour of younger and older Australians".
Last election the survey, conducted among a representative sample of voters, revealed the younger generation was the most left-wing in the survey's history.
Report co-author Sarah Cameron said the trend had emerged over the past two election cycles.
"We've seen an erosion of support for both of the major parties over time … in favour of the Greens," Dr Cameron said.
"What we've started to see now, is where this particular generation of young people is voting differently to previous generations of young people."
In Lismore, Ms Baume said her generation's political views were being impacted by the world they were growing up in.
"Our generation has been kind of raised into this world where it's like, everything is record breaking, unprecedented," she said.
"So all of these words have sort of become a norm and it shouldn't be a norm."
COVID's taken 'the best years of my life'
Further south, in Sydney's Castle Hill, Rayana Ajam also felt "the best years" of her adult life were interrupted by the throes of the pandemic.
Ms Ajam said she felt young people who had dealt with home-learning, paused life experiences and lockdowns at critical times of their education were not being prioritised.
"The best years of my life have honestly been wasted being stuck between the four walls of my bedroom watching pre-recorded lectures," Ms Ajam said.
She said she believed both the Coalition government and the Labor Party had not addressed the issues young people were dealing with.
"In this upcoming election, I think all of us are choosing the better of two worse," she said.
Longitudinal Pew Research Center analysis shows events as people come of age affect their worldview and in many cases, the way they vote, for the rest of their life.
Dr Cameron said given the unprecedented nature of recent events, it was difficult to predict how young people's votes might be impacted.
"This period of youth is often a period where young people become politically engaged, and yet they haven't had the same type of experiences in this phase of life as a result of the pandemic," Dr Cameron said.
"Many things that would normally be happening face-to-face are moving online, which isn't necessarily equivalent.
"Young people have probably spent more time in the family home over the last few years, but they've probably also spent a lot more time online, which might also be having an impact and potentially different impacts to the influence of parents."
Record youth enrolment surge
Melbourne resident Luis Benipayo, 22, said while the last thing on his mind was the federal election, this was the first time he was going to take part.
"This is the first time I've actually registered to vote," Mr Benipayo told the ABC.
He is one of a record surge of newly-enrolled voters for the upcoming federal election.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said about 97 per cent of the eligible population was now enrolled, with 80,000 18–24-year-olds registering during the week of the April deadline.
Dr Cameron said the few young people who had not enrolled to vote were not necessarily disengaged from politics.
"There's a long-standing debate about whether young people are disengaged from politics or whether they just engage differently," she said.
"In countries with voluntary voting, young people are much less likely to vote than older people, but they might be involved in other ways, including various forms of online activism, and we can discuss whether online activism is in any way equivalent to offline political participation.
"[They're also involved in] protest participation, which is often a form of political engagement favoured by the young."
Youth make up just 26 per cent of Australian electorate
Mr Benipayo said he agreed with the sentiment that his generation felt ignored by the major parties.
"Everything they talked about is how to help the older individuals, but … they haven't actually spoken about the young community," Mr Benipayo said.
According to the AEC, 18–34-year-olds make up 26 per cent of the enrolled electorate, compared to those 55 years and older, who make up around 40 per cent.
The 35-54 year old cohort rounds out the voting population, constituting 34 per cent of voters.
Back in the Northern Rivers, Frewoini Baume said even if politicians did do more to address issues young people care about, the way they conduct themselves was also a factor in her vote.
She cited recent scandals concerning the treatment of women and minorities in federal parliament as an example.
"Politicians are meant to be our leaders and role models and examples, and the behaviours that they exhibit isn't necessarily anything I aspire to be."
