The purpose of public funding is to reimburse electoral communication expenditure incurred by eligible candidates and political parties. Public funding is only available to those contesting a State general election or by-election.
This section provides brief summary of the following:
Additional information can be found in the Funding and Disclosure Guides available under the Download Publications section of this website.
To view past Funding and Entitlement Reports click here.
The Election Campaigns Fund is kept by the EFA for State elections. Payments are made from the Fund by the EFA to eligible parties and candidates following a State election.
The amount in the Fund for a State election or by-election is based on an aggregate of the applicable cap on electoral communication expenditure for all eligible parties and candidates.
back to top
Candidates who contest an election or a by-election for the Legislative Assembly are eligible to a payment from the Fund (subject to and in accordance with the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981) if the candidate is registered in the Register of Candidates for the election as at election day; and either one or both of the following occur:
Candidates who contest an election for the Legislative Council are eligible to participate in the distribution of the Central Fund if:
1. the candidate is registered in the Register of Candidates for the election as at election day; and
2. the candidate is not endorsed by a registered party (or in the case of a candidate who is a member of a group the candidates in the group are not endorsed by a registered party), and either one or both of the following occur:
Funding is a reimbursement of a proportion of electoral communication expenditure incurred by the eligible party or candidate in the capped expenditure period. The proportion of expenditure that may be reimbursed is dependent on the party or candidate's expenditure cap.
In order to receive a payment the agent of an eligible party or candidate must lodge a Claim for Payment for a Parliamentary Election form. The claim must be accompanied by a relevant Disclosure of Political Donations and Electoral Expenditure form. Claims must be lodged with the EFA within 120 days of the return of the writs for the election.
All claims for payment must be audited by a registered company auditor before they are lodged with the EFA.
Political parties, groups, candidates and elected members may be entitled to apply to the EFA for payments from one of the following funds:
* The Election Campaigns Fund – in relation to electoral communication expenditure at State Elections
* The Administration Fund – for administration costs of State parties who have members of parliament and for independent members of Parliament
* The Policy Development Fund – for all other State parties who are not entitled to the Administration Fund
The purpose of public funding is to reimburse electoral communication and administration expenditure by eligible candidates, elected members and political parties.
All relevant information on eligibility and the amount of funding reimbursed is available on the Fact Sheet Public Funding, Fact Sheet Public Funding of State Election Campaigns and Fact Sheet Administration Fund and Policy Development Fund.
Additional information can be found in the funding and disclosure guides available under the Download Publications section in the right hand column of this website.
Funding from the Election Campaigns Fund is a reimbursement of electoral communication expenditure incurred by the eligible party or candidate in the capped expenditure period. The proportion of expenditure that may be reimbursed is dependent on the party or candidate's expenditure cap. For more information see the Fact Sheet Public Funding of State Election Campaigns.
In order to receive a payment, the agent of an eligible party or candidate must lodge a Claim for Payment from the Election Campaigns Fund form. The claim must be accompanied by a relevant Disclosure of Political Donations and Electoral Expenditure form.
All claims for payment must be audited by a registered company auditor before they are lodged with the EFA.
Funding from the Administration Fund is a reimbursement of administration and operating expenditure incurred by the eligible party or elected member in the past calendar year.
In order to receive a payment, the agent of an eligible party or elected member must lodge a claim for funding of the party or member's administration and operating expenditure. All claims for payment must be audited by a registered company auditor before they are lodged with the EFA.
The claim and auditor declaration must be lodged between 1 January and 30 June in the year following the year in which the expenditure was incurred.
Parties that are not eligible for payments from the Administration Fund may be eligible for annual payments from the Policy Development Fund. The purpose of the fund is to reimburse parties for policy development expenditure incurred in a calendar year. For details on the amount to be reimbursed, see the Fact Sheet Administration Fund and Policy Development Fund.
In order to receive a payment, the party agent must lodge a claim for funding. All claims for payment must be audited by a registered company auditor before they are lodged with the EFA.
The claim and auditor declaration must be lodged between 1 January and 30 June in the year following the year in which the expenditure was incurred.
Click here to view Public Funding reports.