Some changes have been made to the penalties associated with election funding and disclosure as a result of the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Act 2018 (the FAD Reform Act). These penalties affect political parties, their associated entities and other non-party political actors. Civil penalties have been added and some criminal penalties have been modified. The table below contains the complete list of civil and criminal penalties.
If you have any questions in relation to the penalties, please email fad@aec.gov.au, or alternatively call the Funding and Disclosure help desk on 02 6271 4552.
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Incurring electoral expenditure if the person or entity is not registered as a political campaigner in that same financial year – s287F |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Incurring electoral expenditure if the entity is not registered as an associated entity in that same financial year – s287H |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure to notify the Electoral Commissioner within 90 days if information on the Transparency Register fails to be correct or complete – s287P |
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60 penalty units (s287P(2)) | Not applicable |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Failure of political entity or political campaigner to take acceptable action in regards to a foreign donation – s302D(1) |
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Whichever is higher of:
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200 penalty units (s302D(2)) |
Failure of a third party to take acceptable action in regards to a foreign donation – s302E(1) |
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Whichever is higher of:
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50 penalty units (s302E(3)) |
Failure to take acceptable action in regards to a foreign gift – s302F(1) |
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For contravention of s302F(1) by a third party:
For contravention of s302F(1) by a person or entity other than a third party:
For contravention of s302F(2):
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For contravention of s302F(1) by a third party:
For contravention of s302F(1) by a person or entity other than a third party:
For contravention of s302F(2):
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Knowingly providing a false affirmation or information that a donor is not a foreign donor – s302G(1) |
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Whichever is higher of:
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100 penalty units (s302G(2)) |
Establishing a scheme to avoid sections 302D, 302E or 302F – s302H |
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Whichever is higher:
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200 penalty units (s302H(3)) |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Failure to provide a return disclosing the value of gifts received – s304 |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure to provide a return disclosing the value of gifts received – s304 |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure to provide a return disclosing gifts valued at more than the disclosure threshold – s305A |
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Whichever is higher:
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Not applicable |
Failure to disclose gifts totalling more than the disclosure threshold in a financial year – s305B |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Failure by the agent of a person who was a candidate to provide a return disclosing the amount of electoral expenditure – s309 |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure by the agent of a group to provide a return disclosing the amount of electoral expenditure – s309 |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Failure of a political party or political campaigner to provide an annual return – s314AB |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure of an associated entity to provide an annual return – s314AEA |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Failure of third party to provide an annual return – s314AEB |
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Whichever is higher of:
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Not applicable |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Refusal or failure to comply with a notice relating to a compliance review or investigation – s316(5)‑(5A) |
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Not applicable | For a refusal to comply with a notice under s316(2A), (3) or (3A):
For a failure to comply with a notice under s316(2A), (3) or (3A):
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Providing false or misleading information during a compliance review or investigation – s316(6) |
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Not applicable | Imprisonment for 6 months, or 10 penalty units, or both (s316(6)) |
Offence | Applies to | Maximum civil penalty | Maximum criminal penalty |
---|---|---|---|
Failure to keep records – s317(2)‑(4) |
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200 penalty units (s317(1)) | Not applicable |