All local government candidates and groups have obligations under the Election Funding and Disclosures Act 1981 (the Act).
The Funding and Disclosure Guide-Candidates, Groups and Official Agents at Local Government Elections is now available. The guide follows the election funding and disclosure timeline and provides candidates, groups and their official agents with information about their obligations under the Act and practical information about:
A brief summary of each section is provided below. For more explanation click on the links provided or refer to the Funding and Disclosure Guide-Candidates, Groups and Official Agents at Local Government Elections.
If you contest a Local Government election or a by-election you must be registered as a candidate with the Election Funding Authority before you accept political donations for the election/by-election you are contesting.
If you do not accept any political donations you are not required to register as a candidate with the Authority.
If you and other candidates are forming a group for a Local Government election you must register the group with the Authority in order for the group to accept political donations.
If the group does not accept any political donations there is no requirement to register the group with the Authority.
Candidates and groups must appoint and register an official agent before accepting $1,000 or more in political donations. Prospective official agents must meet eligibility requirements prior to being registered. An official agent is responsible for managing political donations and electoral expenditure, keeping proper records and lodging a disclosure of political donations and electoral expenditure on behalf of a candidate or group.
Candidates and groups who receive less than $1,000 in political donations are not required to appoint an official agent. In the case where a candidate does not have an agent, the candidate is deemed to be their own agent. In the case where a group does not have an agent the head candidate in the group is deemed to be the official agent for the group.
A political donation is a gift (monetary or non-monetary) made to or for the benefit of a candidate or group. Political donations include (but are not limited to):
Political donations of $1,000 or more are known as reportable political donations. Reportable political donations include multiple donations made by the same person to the same candidate or group in the same financial year that total $1,000 or more.
Political donations of less than $1,000 are known as small political donations.
Some political donations are unlawful. Unlawful political donations include:
Note: Volunteer labour is not an in-kind gift or indirect campaign contribution.
A loan is an advance of money, the provision of credit or any other transaction that in substance affects a loan of money.
A reportable loan is a loan or total in loans of $1,000 or more from one source in the same disclosure period.
A non-reportable loan is:
Unpaid accounts and invoices are also considered loans, and must be disclosed if the total value of any one account or invoice is $1,000 or more in one disclosure period.
Electoral expenditure is any expenditure for or in connection with promoting or opposing, directly or indirectly, the election of a candidate or a group of candidates or for the purpose of influencing, directly or indirectly, the voting at an election.
The official agent, candidate or head candidate (as applicable) must keep proper records of electoral expenditure including receipts or invoices for expenditure items and samples of all advertising and printed material.
When a political donation is received, the official agent must record the details of the donation.
A reportable political donation can only be accepted if:
When a person or entity makes a reportable political donation to or for the benefit of a candidate or group, the official agent is required to issue a receipt/acknowledgement slip to the donor. Each receipt/acknowledgement slip must contain a statement to advise the donor of their obligation to disclose political donations to the Authority.
Candidates, groups and official agents, must also keep records of small political donations (monetary and non-monetary) in order to disclose the total value of these donations received and the total number of people who made these donations during the period covered by the disclosure.
Candidates and groups must have a campaign account before accepting $1,000 or more in political donations.
The campaign account must not be a personal account of a candidate or a member of a group. The official agent must be authorised to operate the campaign account. Candidates and groups are not permitted to operate the campaign account.
A campaign account can only be used for the following purposes:
Candidates, groups and official agents, are required to keep proper records to ensure the accurate and complete disclosure of political donations and electoral expenditure.
The records of candidates, groups and official agents may be subject to a random compliance audit by the Authority.
The official agent of each candidate and group is required to lodge a disclosure of the political donations received and electoral expenditure incurred by the candidate or group following each six month period ending 30 June and 31 December.
Where a candidate does not have an official agent they are deemed to be their own official agent and must lodge the disclosure. Where a group does not have an official agent, the head candidate is deemed to be the official agent for the group and must lodge the disclosure.
Disclosures must be made in the forms approved by the Authority. Used Receipt and Acknowledgement books as well as invoices and receipts supporting advertising and printing expenditure must be submitted with the disclosure.
A disclosure must be lodged by all candidates and groups irrespective of:
Candidates and groups must have their disclosure audited by a registered company auditor unless the Authority has approved an exemption.