Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to call for voting age to be lowered to 16

Labor leader Bill Shorten is set to call for the national voting age to be lowered to 16.

The opposition leader will tell the NSW Young Labor conference today that more than 17,000 16 and 17-year-olds paid $41 million in taxes in 2012-13 and deserve a say in Australia's democracy.

Labor youth spokesman and NSW senator Sam Dastyari will consult with community leaders and young people across Australia to come up with a recommendation on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 or 17.

Mr Shorten will tell the conference around 400,000 people aged between 18 and 24 did not enrol to vote in time for the last federal election, and that extra fines is unlikely to help the issue.

The party would take the policy to the election if it is widely supported. 

The federal government has dismissed the plan as a gimmick and questioned its popularity in the electorate. 

"I don't believe there will be much public support," Finance Minister Mathias Cormann told Sky News today.