What to do if you’re a third party
This guide steps you through what to do if your organisation has spent more than $15,200 (but less than $250,000) on electoral expenditure in a financial year
Under Commonwealth electoral laws, special obligations apply to “third parties” — organisations that have spent over $15,200 but less than $250,000 on “electoral expenditure”. Those obligations are:
making annual disclosures of gifts and electoral expenditure to the AEC; and
complying with restrictions on accepting donations from non-residents of Australia (foreign donations).
Note that unlike political campaigners, third parties are not required to register with the AEC after incurring electoral expenditure, or to appoint a financial controller.
Disclosing gifts and electoral expenditure
As a third party, your organisation will need to disclose gifts of over $15,200 if used to incur electoral expenditure, as well as your electoral expenditure. You do this by completing an annual return in November via the AEC’s eReturns portal, or using this online form.
The return must set out:
Details of gifts (including gifts-in-kind*) of over $15,200, where that gift was used (in whole or in part) to incur electoral expenditure. The gifts from each donor must be aggregated across the financial year: that is, if you received over $15,200 in instalments from the one donor over the financial year, and used any part of those donations on electoral expenditure, you have to disclose the entire gift.
The details you must provide are:
the full name and address of the donor who gave you the gift(s);
the date you received the gift(s); and
the amount or value of the total gift.
Your organisation’s total electoral expenditure that financial year (you do not need to disclose any details of the spending).
*Gifts-in-kind include things with commercial value, such as the provision of a service. It does not include unskilled volunteer labour, for instance members tending a stall.
Penalties: The penalties for non-compliance with these reporting obligations are the higher of $13,320 (60 penalty units) or three times the amount of the electoral expenditure that the organisation incurred.
Returns are published on the Transparency Register on the first working day of February each year. For more detail on how to disclose as a third party, see this AEC guide.
2. Complying with restrictions on foreign donations
The Act imposes some restrictions on third parties receiving foreign donations for electoral expenditure.
Who is a foreign donor?
The full list of who qualifies as a “foreign donor” is provided in s. 287AA of the Act, but most relevantly for our sector it includes:
entities that are not incorporated in Australia, or do not have their head office or principal place of business here;
individuals who are not Australian citizens or residents; and
New Zealand citizens who do not hold a special category visa.
What are the restrictions ?
Third parties are allowed to accept donations over $100 from a foreign donor, only if the donation is not intended to be used (by either the donor or recipient) for incurring electoral expenditure.
Donations over $15,200 from a foreign donor may not be used to incur electoral expenditure, regardless of what the donor and recipient intended at the time the gift was made. Practically, this means third parties will need systems in place when seeking gifts they intend to use on electoral expenditure. Some organisations use a checkbox on their fundraising page, so they can identify foreign donations and quarantine them.
If a third party receives a donation from a foreign donor in contravention of the restrictions, the Act provides six weeks from the gift being made for it to be either returned to the donor or transferred to the Commonwealth.
Penalties: Failure to comply with this provision is an offence, also attracts a civil penalty of $22,200 or three times the value of the gift, whichever is higher.