Human Rights Law Centre launches new electoral law guide for not-for-profits

With the next federal election not far away, the Human Rights Law Centre has released a new step-by-step guide to help charities comply with electoral law.

The guide poses a series of questions for not-for-profits to answer to work out the category of organisation they fit into, and what their obligations are.

It also provides clear definitions of key terms like ‘electoral expenditure’ and ‘dominant purpose’, as well as guidance on how to authorise materials, which some organisations may need to do even if they haven’t reached the $14,500 electoral expenditure threshold and are not a third party.

Read the Not-for-profits’ guide to complying with Commonwealth electoral laws here.

Human Rights Law Centre Senior Lawyer Alice Drury said:

“Charities shouldn’t be shy about advocating on their issues around elections; they just need to be armed with the knowledge of how to disclose and authorise it.

“This guide has been developed to provide a broad range of organisations, from small grassroots charities to large, sophisticated not-for-profits, with the basic information they need to comply with electoral law, which can seem quite complicated.

“For those who are new to how the electoral laws work, there’s a top-level how-to guide. There is also a lot of the detail that big campaigning organisations will need when doing a detailed analysis of their communications.

“Working out whether activities are ‘electoral matter’ can be complicated and take a lot of time. Having a good understanding of what kinds of activities the law includes will save lawyers and not-for-profits a lot of time unnecessarily analysing their activities.

“Also, it’s important to remember that advocacy for the purpose of influencing voters in an election – the central question in whether electoral laws apply – is a legitimate and important activity for charities and other not-for-profits to engage in.

“We hope this guide will give charities and not-for-profits the knowledge and confidence to keep doing the great work they do while complying with Commonwealth electoral laws.”

Read the Not-for-profits’ guide to complying with Commonwealth electoral laws here.