In just ten days, Australia will choose its next Prime Minister. The political landscape is frantic – every party is in a race to produce TikTok-worthy content, desperate to win votes from the biggest voting bloc in Australian history. For the first time ever, Millennials and Gen Z will outnumber Baby Boomers at the polls.
But are we really being seen, or just marketed to?
As a young South Asian-Australian woman, I had grown tired of hearing how “young people don’t know much” or “they don’t take things seriously.” So I decided to see for myself. I walked through university campuses, talking to students who looked like me – brown kids juggling degrees, part-time jobs, and cultural identities and asked them three simple questions. Do you know when the election is? Who’s running? What matters most to you?
I wish I could say I was surprised by the answers. I wasn’t. I was disappointed.
Most South Asian-Australians I spoke to couldn’t even name the major political parties. Many didn’t know the election date. And when asked about the issues that mattered to them, I heard two things.
“We know more about India’s politics because it’s more dramatic.”
“My family and I just vote for whoever.”
I was embarrassed. I was annoyed. I was angry.
Because this isn’t just a matter of lack of interest. It’s about power and we’re giving ours away.
These are the same people who complain about rising rent, job insecurity, and the cost of living. But when it comes time to actually make a difference – to vote – they don’t care. And if we don’t care, politicians won’t either.
But maybe that’s the real issue. They already don’t.
Because while parties flood our feeds with short, flashy videos and youth-targeted memes, none seem to have taken a meaningful stance on the most terrifying crisis gripping this country. Violence against women. violence against women in Australia
While the housing crisis is a huge issue many Australian families are currently facing, let’s be honest, it’s not the only crisis we’re facing. The biggest pandemic in Australia right now isn’t inflation – it’s that women are dying. In 2024, Australian Femicide reported 104 women were killed by violence, with 23 already killed this year. In New South Wales, police attend a domestic and family violence call approximately every two minutes.
Read that again. Every. Two. Minutes. violence against women in Australia
And what has been done? False promises of more staff and funding but they never deliver. Just one year after the NSW government’s Emergency Package, domestic violence services are collapsing. 96% of specialist DFV services are reporting a spike in demand – yet with no increase in baseline funding, they’re drowning.
Delia Donovan, CEO of Domestic Violence NSW, put it plainly, “it’s like sending a paramedic to a major emergency with just one ambulance – forced to make impossible choices about who gets help and who is left without life-saving support.” So you’re saying the government has $5.2 billion for Western Sydney roads but not $163 million for these crucial services?
View this post on Instagram
And here’s what terrifies me most, many women my age – the very people most at risk – don’t care who they vote for. They just do it to avoid a fine. Older South Asian men, the ones who often hold the most sway in our families vote for whoever promises financial gain.
So again, I ask, who will protect our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, our nieces? Who will protect us? violence against women in Australia
I will be honest. I am scared. Scared of the next woman’s name becoming a headline. Scared of the vigils, the flowers, the fleeting social media outrage. Because I know after that, everything goes quiet, until it happens again.
So I beg you – if you are reading this, wake up! We cannot afford to vote “whatever.” We cannot afford to leave politics to people who don’t care whether we live or die.
Learn the names. Learn the issues. Demand answers. Because if you don’t – no one else will.
There is a limit to complaining.
There is a limit to mourning.
But there should never be a limit to caring.
READ MORE: South Asian women on the future we build
