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Australian Electoral Commission
The AEC is committed to providing timely, accurate information about the new legislation. This website will be updated regularly to offer clear, considered guidance relevant to all affected members of the regulated community.
Under the Electoral Act as amended, only registered political parties can have an associated entity. An independent MP, Senator or candidate cannot have an associated entity.
While entities that operate wholly, or to a significant extent, for the benefit of an independent candidate will no longer be required (or permitted) to register as an associated entity from 1 January 2027, such entities will still be able to be utilised by independent candidates as part of their campaign structure.
If these entities meet the relevant thresholds for registration as a significant third party, or for characterisation as a third party, these entities will be subject to separate obligations under the Electoral Act as amended, such as separate gift caps, expenditure caps, obligations relating to federal accounts, and expedited disclosure and annual reporting obligations.
These obligations are in addition to the obligations of independent MPs, Senators or candidates. For example, any gifts and expenditure of the independent MP, Senator or candidate must be disclosed in their relevant return. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in enforcement action.
More information:
Associated entities
Who should lodge an annual return?
Annual returns must be lodged by:
What is the disclosure threshold?
From 1 January 2027, the disclosure threshold is $5,000, meaning gifts over this threshold must be disclosed, including where the value of cumulative gifts from the same donor to the same recipient in the same calendar year exceeds $5,000. This figure is indexed after a federal election.
When are annual returns due?
More information:
Annual returns
The election period for an election, by-election or Senate-only election begins on the date the writs are issued.
A person becomes a candidate on the earlier of the following:
For reporting purposes, it is possible that a person may be required to provide an annual return as both a candidate and as an MP or Senator for the same year if they hold the status of both in a calendar year.
More information:
Annual returns
The items that can be claimed are broadly the same. Information about the definition of electoral expenditure is here: Fact sheet: Electoral expenditure.
The reforms also introduce the new concept of Administrative Assistance Funding.
More information:
Electoral expenditure
Electoral expenditure caps apply from 1 January to 31 December each year.
The Divisional cap (which applies to members of a registered political party’s expenditure group, including their MPs) and Independent House of Representatives cap, is $800,000 per calendar year.
The $800,000 cap is a cap on electoral expenditure. Separate caps apply to gifts made for a federal purpose and these amounts must be credited to a federal account and can only be used for federal electoral expenditure.
The Act does not impose limits on amounts that candidates can raise in a calendar year for purposes other than a federal purpose. However, these gifts cannot be credited to a federal account.
More information:
Electoral expenditure
The AEC is unable to advise regulated entities on how they structure their internal finances. The AEC provides general information to help participants understand electoral funding and disclosure requirements. This information should not be relied upon as legal or financial advice. Individuals and organisations should obtain their own independent advice to understand how the Electoral Act as amended applies to their specific circumstances.
Electoral-Act-administration
Key terms used in the Electoral Act, such as gifts and administrative expenditure, have specific meaning for the purpose of administering the scheme. These definitions, as well as the requirements relating to time, differ from tax law.
Electoral-Act-administration
Yes. Acceptable recipient action is required by the recipient when the gift cap is exceeded.
If a gift had been disclosed but is returned for any reason, where the cap is not exceeded, an amendment to the disclosure notice is more appropriate.
Gifts and gift caps
Yes. For a significant third party, the financial controller has the obligation to lodge the donation disclosure notice and an annual return.
Every significant third party, associated entity and nominated entity must nominate a financial controller. If the significant third party or associated entity is a person (as opposed to a business or other entity), they may nominate themselves as the financial controller.
If the significant third party or associated entity is not a person, an individual acting on its behalf must nominate the financial controller.
The AEC is considering if there is a possibility to provide for preliminary work to be undertaken by another representative prior to it being lodged by the financial controller. This will involve detailed consideration of role-based access through the IT system. The AEC will need to consider whether it is available from implementation or if it is a feature of future updates. However, any such system feature (if allowed) would not alter the financial controller’s disclosure obligations and liability under the Electoral Act.
More information:
Disclosure
The timeframe is based on calendar days.
Disclosure
The role of the AEC is to implement the legislation as passed by Parliament. Where the legislation requires a donation disclosure notice to be provided to the AEC, and even if the last day for doing so falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the notice must be lodged within the timeframes required by the applicable period (non-election period, election period or expedited notice period).
Disclosure
The AEC wants to make the process of making a donation disclosure notice as simple as possible. There is complexity in establishing a system that operates in that way, especially in relation to Commonwealth privacy laws. On initial implementation on 1 January 2027, the system may not necessarily do matching in the way that we intend it to in the future. It may be a system development in a later release.
Disclosure
The legislation does not provide for low value gifts (provided for a federal purpose) to be excluded from the cumulative total for disclosures.
Disclosure
The legislative amendments intend to enhance the transparency and integrity of Australia’s electoral processes. The amendments streamline and modernise the AEC’s compliance and enforcement powers in relation to Part XX of the Electoral Act. This is to support the effective operation of the Part XX amendments, such as those related to the expedited disclosure periods. The legislation also provides for civil penalty provisions (rather than fines) where a person is non-compliant.
Further guidance will be provided to entities ahead of commencement.
Disclosure
Bequeathments or amounts bequeathed to an entity through a will are not gifts. Therefore, there is no requirement to complete a donation disclosure notice in relation to the amount bequeathed.
Disclosure
From 1 January 2027, the disclosure threshold is $5,000, meaning gifts over this threshold must be disclosed. This includes where the value of cumulative gifts from the same donor to the same recipient in the same calendar year exceeds $5,000.
Once the threshold has been exceeded, each gift, regardless of the amount, must be disclosed in line with the notice periods for the relevant election period in which the gift is made or received. Donation disclosure notices (DDNs) can be lodged individually or as part of a 'bulk upload'.
The disclosure threshold is exceeded when a gift for a federal purpose is received and that amount, or the sum of all amounts received from the same person or entity during the calendar year, is more than the disclosure threshold.
In your scenario:
Both donor and recipient DDNs must set out:
The AEC is still determining how the information will be presented on the Transparency Register.
Donors
This is an important part of the AEC’s system design, known as ‘identity and access management’. We will set up the new system to manage expedited disclosure and new returns obligations and acknowledge the importance this is not a single point of failure.
System
The new legislation operates on a calendar year basis from 1 January 2027. This is a change from the financial year operation of the current scheme.
The AEC's role is to implement the legislation as enacted by Parliament. Should you wish to make a submission to JSCEM directly on these matters, this can be done at Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters – Parliament of Australia.
Legislation
The Electoral Act as amended provides a detailed definition of a federal account:
Federal account means an account where:
A federal account of a federal party may be established by the federal party or a state branch of the federal party.
State branches of federal registered political parties must have their own federal account/s.
The AEC will publish guidance explaining this in more user-friendly language.
The new legislation requires all electoral expenditure incurred by the various entities covered by the reform to be paid from a federal account.
If your entity has disclosure obligations you will need to consider the process you have for receiving gifts to ensure that gifts you receive for a federal purpose will be credited to a federal account. Amounts that are not for a federal purpose must not be credited to a federal account. If this happens you have 6 weeks from the date you become aware to withdraw them.
Note: Federal purpose is the purpose of incurring electoral expenditure or creating or communicating electoral matter.
More information:
Federal accounts
The new scheme no longer uses the term “campaign” and “campaign account.”
The Electoral Act as amended refers to “federal purposes” and “elections.” Gifts for a federal purpose must go into a federal account and be recorded accordingly. You can carry funds across from one calendar year to the next, but money spent must also be recorded. The new legislation/future scheme is based on definitions. Rather than talking about a campaign, the legislation is interested in whether you have received gifts for a federal purpose. If it is a monetary gift, has it been credited to a federal account?
If your entity has disclosure obligations, you need to consider your process for receiving those donations. This is essential to ensure gifts you receive for a federal purpose will be credited to a federal account.
Federal accounts
No. Funds held in a federal administrative account (that is not a federal account) must only be used for a federal administrative purpose or pay for administrative expenditure. This means that funds held in a federal administrative account can only be transferred to another federal administrative account [s287]. Administrative expenditure is not electoral expenditure or funds used/intended to be used for a federal purpose.
Federal accounts
The AEC would consider this as best practice. The recipient of gifts would need to advise the donor which account the gift should be deposited to.
Federal accounts
The AEC would consider this as best practice. The recipient of donations would need to advise the donor which account the donation should be deposited to.
Federal accounts
Refer to table on page 8 of the Guideline: Federal accounts.
Federal accounts
All electoral expenditure must be paid from a federal account, which:
For any payments in relation to employee benefits (such as salary, superannuation, leave entitlements, etc.) compliance would be met by:
Transferring the portion attributable from the federal account (even if pooled temporarily) meets requirements, as outlined in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the passage of the amending legislation.
The AEC recommends that the relevant entity:
Federal accounts
A monetary gift made for a federal purpose may be received into an account other than a federal account. It must be transferred to a federal account before it is expended for a federal purpose.
Gifts received for a State and Territory purpose (relating to a State, Territory, or local government election) are not for a federal purpose and cannot be deposited into a federal account.
There are also requirements recipients of gifts must comply with regarding disclosure of gifts and caps on gifts received for a federal purpose. These obligations arise from and timeframes to disclose are based on the date the gift is received by the recipient.
More information can be found here:
Federal accounts
Recipient entities may receive directed donations into an account and allocate for administrative or federal purposes.
This is provided that the first account is not a federal account, which must only be used for amounts for federal purposes.
Entities may keep federal administrative accounts to receive donations for administrative expenditure purposes and for administrative expenditure, such as costs for administrative staff apportioned appropriately if required.
Only donations for federal administrative purposes, that is, administrative expenditure and not electoral expenditure, can go into these accounts.
Administrative assistance funding must also go into federal administrative accounts.
More information can be found here:
Federal accounts
The $50,000 gift cap refers to the annual gift cap, which applies to both donors and recipients, and limits the total amount or value a donor can give to a single recipient (and a recipient can receive from a single donor) in a calendar year.
The overall gift cap applies to donors (it does not apply to recipients) and caps the total amount or value of gifts a donor can make to all recipients in a calendar year. The overall gift cap is $1.6 million (32 times the $50,000 amount).
Whether it applies separately to each branch of a registered political party depends on how those branches are organised within the entity structure.
More information can be found here:
Gifts and gift caps
Where a significant third party has a branch that is an associated entity, the branch is treated as being separate from the significant third party. This means that if a branch of a significant third party is an associated entity, the branch is obligated to comply separately with disclosure requirements, gift, and expenditure caps. The significant third party and all branches that are not associated entities are treated as a single significant third party.
Example – operation of s287(8D) – Explanatory Memorandum [page 26].
The Busy Bee Workers Associated (BBWA), and its branches are a significant third party. The BBWA Queensland branch is also registered as an associated entity.
Due to the operation of subsection 287(8D), for the purposes of Part XX of the Electoral Act:
For example, this means that the BBWA QLD and the BBWA will have separate gift caps and expenditure cap.
More information:
Gifts and gift caps
Electoral expenditure
In relation to when a gift is received, it will depend on the type of gift.
For example, a gift of money into a bank account. The date that the recipient receives the gift would be the date the funds are in the recipient’s account (i.e. the recipient has possession and control of the funds).
More information is available here:
Gifts and gift caps
The same gift caps apply to all recipients per individual donor irrespective of the recipient ‘s entity type.
However, for electoral expenditure, the type and amount of the electoral expenditure caps depend on the type of entity. The Divisional expenditure cap is the same for registered political parties (RPPs) or independent candidates. The Divisional cap is $800,000 per Division.
An RPP would also attract a federal expenditure cap ($90 million) and a Senate expenditure cap (based on the State or Territory Senate representation).
Note that:
More information is available here:
Gifts and gift caps
The AEC is developing an IT system to receive donor details; both individual and bulk uploads will be possible.
Donors
From 1 January 2027, the disclosure threshold is $5,000, meaning gifts over this threshold must be disclosed, including where the value of cumulative gifts from the same donor to the same recipient in the same calendar year exceeds $5,000.
Disclosure obligations apply for both the donor and recipient once the disclosure threshold is exceeded.
Donors
If a donor makes more than one gift for a federal purpose to the same recipient in a calendar year and the cumulative total amount or value of gifts exceeds $5,000 (the disclosure threshold), the donor must lodge a donation disclosure notice (DDN), disclosing:
Since the disclosure threshold has been exceed, any subsequent gift from the donor to the recipient in the calendar year also requires a DDN.
The recipient’s obligation to lodge a DDN also triggers for each gift from the donor that exceeds the disclosure threshold.
It is likely we will accept notification of amounts below the disclosure threshold to be recorded in the system.
Donors
It is a legislative requirement that both the donor and the recipient disclose gifts exceeding the disclosure threshold. The AEC will consider ways of displaying the gifts that may aid in reducing any confusion. We are looking at how we properly match gifts from donors and entities within compliance and system requirements. There are strong privacy protections within the Commonwealth legislation that apply to the AEC and other Commonwealth bodies. We need to be careful about how we match donations. Our system may not be capable of doing this on 1 January 2027, but we will be looking to adapt it for future releases as we expand the IT-enabled parts of the funding and disclosure system.
Donors
Recipients must take all reasonable steps to ensure they comply with all relevant gift caps, including the annual gift cap. The Electoral Act sets out who is the responsible person for recipients of gifts for a federal purpose to ensure they comply with gift caps. The responsible person must ensure the recipient does not receive gifts for a federal purpose that exceed any relevant gift cap.
Similarly, the donor is responsible to ensure they do not give gifts that exceed any relevant gift cap.
More information:
Donors
Both advance and post-election funding will be paid. Advance election funding will be paid ahead of a general election to parliamentary parties and candidates who were entitled to election funding in the previous federal election. It will likely be paid in instalments. The process will need to be settled through new regulations under the Electoral Act. These have not been finalised.
Funding
The legislation for the forthcoming scheme does not cap administrative expenditure.
Electoral expenditure
Advance election funding regulations are still being developed through the Department of Finance, so the timeframe is not yet known. Administrative election funding is paid before the end of the seventh day in the quarter (January, April, July and October).
Funding
Administrative assistance funding (AAF) can be used to fund administrative expenditure incurred by a registered political party (RPP), independent MP or Senator for their operational and management activities.
Note that AAF is payable to an RPP but only where they have an MP or Senator in Parliament for all or part of the preceding quarter. The amount is determined in relation to the number of MPs/Senators and the days they were an MP/Senator in the preceding quarter.
While AAF is payable to the RPP, it is, in effect, to reimburse for the administrative expenditure incurred by its parliamentarians.
Administrative expenditure includes the following types of expenses, to the extent they are not related to electoral expenditure:
More information:
Funding
The legislation provides for payment of the Administrative Assistance Funding for each quarter commencing 1 January 2027.
The AEC must make a quarterly AAF payment to the RPP, independent MP or Senator before the end of the 7th day of the month commencing the quarter (i.e. April, July, October and January).
Specific requirements set out eligibility criteria, the timing of payments, and the accounts to which the AEC must make those payments.
Closer to commencement of the relevant provisions, the AEC will advise eligible recipients of the detailed process and confirm the timing for payment of the first quarterly instalment.
More information:
Funding
To support fairness, any question and answer that may benefit the broader community will be shared publicly.
If your query relates specifically to your organisation or unique circumstances, we’ll note it and follow up where appropriate — however, we’re unable to provide individual legal or bespoke advice.
Our aim is to ensure clarity and equitable access to information for all members of the regulated community as
the reforms progress.
If you have a question that isn’t currently answered on the website, you can submit it here.
Where feasible, we’ll publish responses publicly on this website to ensure transparency and equitable access to information.
Some questions may require more detailed consideration as we continue to interpret the legislation. In these cases, we’ll take the question on notice and provide an update once accurate and meaningful advice is available.
The AEC acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.