Young people want to engage. So why don’t we hear from them?

With an ever-growing number of ways to capture the attention of young people, engagement practitioners are often unsure of how to best engage this crucial demographic. As Australia’s premier community engagement consultancy firm, we’re often asked how to meet the needs of today’s cohort of young Australians – one that is more connected, innovative and digitally-driven than ever before.

Each year, Articulous conducts a survey that allows us to monitor engagement trends in real time, ensuring we understand what makes people tick and how they best like to be engaged. As Australia’s largest community engagement survey, the People Matter Community Engagement Poll, takes the pulse of Australians about the practice of engagement.

To avoid biasing our results, we enlist a market research company to recruit Australians from across the country, to share their honest opinions about community engagement. In 2025, we conducted our largest survey to date, recruiting 1,517 people from every state and territory in Australia, including 1,301 people from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Our research frequently reveals interesting insights about varied demographic groups. In 2025, we were particularly struck by the responses received by 18-29 year olds, which paint a vivid picture of the preferences young Australians.

So, what did we learn?

1. Young people DO want to be engaged

Despite the preconceived notion that young people aren’t interested in civic duty, our survey findings revealed that young people, if given the opportunity, are 59% ‘Very likely/likely to engage’. The key is to choosing the right method and time to do this.

2. Younger people like to be engaged face-to-face

Even with many online options available to engage digital natives, like online surveys or social media, young people still like the opportunity to be engaged face-to-face. A third of 18-29 year olds (33%) selected face-to-face as their preferred engagement method, which is a higher proportion compared to 30-39 and 40-49 year old respondents (both 26%).

With social media updates occurring almost constantly, it’s clear that social media platforms are seeking to create new ways for people to engage. Instagram stories can give businesses the option for consumers to respond to questions or rate how they feel about certain products. Tiktok has become a strong platform through its short form content to generate interest in topics and then lead young people to engage elsewhere.

For the second year in a row, surveys were ranked the most popular method for all other demographic groups, expect for 18-29 year olds. Unsurprisingly, this cohort selected social media as their most favoured engagement method (51%). Comparatively, 34% of 40-49 year olds selected social media as a preferred engagement method, with further decline in popularity seen for each age group thereafter.

4. A fifth of 18-29 year olds mentioned ‘minority groups’ as the perceived missing majority

When asked to suggest about who in society is ’unheard’ when considering the average engagement process, young people commonly mentioned minority groups. With a strong focus on inclusivity and highlighting the voices of those who may not often have the opportunity to participate, young people were the demographic group most likely to advocate for engagement to include a breadth of diverse views. Respondents mentioned lack of time and lack of targeted engagement as reasons why these groups are not involved.

5. Young people are less cynical/more trusting

When asked ‘how often do you feel community engagement is a box ticking exercise?’, young people demonstrate a far more positive perception of the intention of engagement practice, compared to older counterparts.

Only 2.3% of 18-29 year olds selected ‘always’, compared to a typical 9-13% of people in other demographics, which is a highly significant difference!

Above all else, our survey demonstrated just how much young people want to be engaged. As the next generation of decision-makers, it’s crucial to ensure younger Australians are consulted about topics that matter to them.

Clearly, young people understand and expect more from engagement. To target this unique group, practitioners should utilise existing platforms, but in innovative and sophisticated ways. Ensuring your engagement approach is diverse and includes a wide variety of participants and methods is also key to getting young Australians on side.