Far from producing "chaos" or "deadlock", Andrew Barr's government, with the support of the Greens has earned a reputation for well-considered, progressive policies - which is why it keeps being re-elected. A stamp duty to land tax swap was first mooted in 2012. The ACT now has a 100 per cent renewable energy target. It successfully introduced a functional light rail system in 2016. Its justice reinvestment program works to reduce youth involvement in crime and incarceration. It has trialled pill testing at music festivals for many years. It has supported the growth of UNSW in Canberra, and strongly supported marriage equality laws. Now it is looking at reducing the voting age to 16.

If passed into law, the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021 will reduce the voting age in the ACT to 16 years old, and allow ACT residents aged 14 and up to enrol to vote.

Turning this bill into law will align the ACT with a number of other jurisdictions around the world that have extended the franchise to 16-year-olds. The voting age has been reduced to 16 for local and national elections in a number of European countries and in the United Kingdom. Brazil, Malta, the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua have all reduced the voting age to 16.

Lowering the voting age to 16 years will extend basic citizenship, democratic and human rights to more young people. It builds on the leadership role established by the ACT as a jurisdiction that takes human rights seriously, by confirming what the ACT Human Rights Act of 2004 says. This legislation will further strengthen the democratic culture of the ACT. It will demonstrate the sincerity of official commitments to youth participation, and boost voter turnout rates, now and into the future. Reducing the voting age will also better align with the values of fostering an inclusive society by promoting and acknowledging young people's right to be heard in all matters affecting their lives.

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Of course, there are those who will say because 16-year-olds lack the cognitive ability, the emotional stability, and the life experience of adults, they cannot be trusted with the vote. This may be a deeply held belief, but it is an age-based prejudice that is not based on evidence. A rigorous survey of the mountains of research now available on this demonstrates there are no credible grounds for continuing to believe 16-year-olds lack the relevant cognitive and moral capacities to vote. That this belief simply reflects an ageist prejudice becomes apparent when we remember we do not apply tests of moral or cognitive ability - or political knowledge - as tests of fitness to vote to anyone over 18.

On a positive note, there is also plenty of evidence - from those places which have reduced the voting age to 16 - that there are important benefits from such action. It engages young people formally in politics. It is a reform that brings the voices, power, and expertise of a new constituency of voters into the democratic system. It allows newcomers to help us renew our democratic ideas and practices.

Young people today will be living with the impact of COVID-19, climate change, the financial implications of the nuclear-powered submarine deal, surveillance capitalism and many other decisions made by those older than them today for decades to come. Yet many have not been afforded the basic human right to have their say at the ballot box about those decisions, which affect them directly.

The ACT now has another opportunity to consolidate its reputation as a progressive jurisdiction committed to evidence-based policy.