Politics has been "in the dock" and leaders need to do more to engage with young people, says former British politician and Olympian Sebastian Coe.
Lord Coe told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday millennials in the UK and Australia had lost trust in institutions and politics.
He cited a report which showed eight per cent of Australian young adults believed they would be financially better off than their parents and one in 10 said social change would benefit them.
"That is probably no different than the current research would reveal in my own country," he said.
Part of the reason was "politics has been in the dock", with Britain experiencing scandals over politicians' expenses, the Iraq war and media intrusion.
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But there had also been a broader breakdown in trust in institutions.
"We were brought up to believe institutions were in our corner and trying to do things for a virtuous outcome or, at worst, were benign - young people now question everything," the gold-medallist athlete said.
"If you look at the landscape that they are looking at, it is not a great surprise they are going to question our judgments and in large part, impugn our motives."
The solution lay in leaders changing the way they engage, particularly with young people.
"(They want) people who are straight talking, have passionate views and are prepared to do things that are slightly unorthodox."
