21-YEAR-OLD Dominique Erichsen isn't alone in feeling alienated by politics.
"If it was about me it probably wouldn't be about anything important. But sure, if it was about me I'd be more interested," she says.
The trainee florist from Sydney is enrolled to vote but like many of her generation, doesn't know who her local member is.
It's not that she doesn't care.
"I just have no idea where to start."
A national survey by The Australia Institute conducted in May and released on Wednesday reveals 30 per cent of people aged 17-25 are 'not really interested' in the upcoming federal election.
About 15 per cent are 'disinterested' and 68 per cent don't know who's representing them in parliament.
Executive Director of the Institute, Dr Richard Denniss, said the confusion and disinterest among the country's future leaders is "baffling".
"But I think for the most part it's not their fault. It's up to the politicians to engage them and win them over with policy," Dr Denniss said.
The survey of 806 people also found a significant 47 per cent believe no party best represents the needs of young people.
Associate professor at Sydney University and expert in political participation, Ariadne Vromen, agreed the onus is on politicians to engage with young people in the right spaces.
"So using social media to talk to them. Ninety-five per cent of under-25s are on Facebook so it's the kind of thing you'd think about'," she told AAP.
"I'm a bit disillusioned with this concept of 'let's blame the young people'. A lot of older people are disengaged with politics."
Professor Vromen described a flawed tendency to "homogenise people".
"Young people are talked about as being the same, when they have different social backgrounds, different ethnic backgrounds," she said.
She said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull had mastered the art of using Twitter to engage a younger audience because they interacted and showed a bit of their humanity - something politician don't often do.
"They tell you what they're doing on the weekend or when they're going to the movies, which people can relate to."
Dominique says she would relish the chance to be more engaged with policies that matter to her, such as the environment, the NDIS and education reforms.
"Those policies certainly aren't about me but they are good policies."
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