Application for Registration

Organisations applying for registration as a political party should make themselves familiar with the requirements of the Act, and with this Handbook.

They should also contact the AEC (contact details are in the introduction to this Handbook) for advice or guidance about the registration process:

• This helps the AEC to understand the proposed application;

• It assists applicants to understand the requirements for registration established by the Act and by precedent arising from its administration.

Parties should familiarise themselves with the funding and disclosure obligations of registered political parties addressed in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties.

Eligibility Requirements

There are a number of preconditions to a satisfactory application for registration:

• Political parties - The applicant organisation must meet the legal definition of ‘political party’ in section 4 of the Act. In general terms, it must be a body corporate or an association, or a branch or division of one of these, whose objectives include the promotion of the election of candidates to the House of Representatives or to the Senate;

• Eligible political party - The party must be an eligible political party as defined in section 123 of the Act. In general terms, an eligible political party is one that is established on the basis of a written constitution setting out the aims of the party. It may be a Parliamentary party or a non-Parliamentary party.

Parliamentary Party

This is a party that is represented in the Commonwealth Parliament. It has at least one member who is a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

Two or more political parties cannot rely on the same member (or members) of Parliament for purposes of qualifying as a political party.

Non-Parliamentary Party

This is a party with a substantial number of members. It has at least 500 members who are eligible to enrol on the Commonwealth electoral roll, none of whom have been relied on by another party for its registration purposes.

Application Form

An application for the registration of a political party should be made on the form available from the AEC. A copy of the application form is included in the Appendix to this Handbook.

Registration cannot be granted unless all of the information required by the form and which is relevant to the application is provided.

The application form must be accompanied by:

• A $500 application fee;
• A copy of the party constitution;
• Documentary evidence that the party meets the membership requirements of a Parliamentary party or of a non-Parliamentary party. Details of these requirements are at the end of this chapter;
• Documentary evidence of the relationship between the parties where the applicant is a branch or division of a registered political party.

Who may make the application?

This depends on whether the party is a Parliamentary party or a non-Parliamentary party.

In the case of a Parliamentary party an application for registration may be made by:

• The secretary of the party; or
• All of the Parliamentary members of the party.

In the case of a non-Parliamentary party an application for registration may be made by 10 members of the party, one of whom must be the secretary of the party.

Party Secretary

The secretary of the party is the person (however their job is described) who is responsible for the administration and correspondence of the party.

In view of the importance of the secretary’s role (e.g. in signing applications for registration, change of party details, and deregistration) care should be taken to ensure that the secretary is properly appointed. This is discussed in the Roles and Obligations chapter of this Handbook.

Commonwealth electoral roll

All members who sign applications for registration, change of party details, and deregistration, and all members relied upon to meet minimum membership requirements, must be eligible for enrolment on the Commonwealth electoral roll. In other words they must be:

• At least 17 years old, be Australian citizens, and have lived at their present address for at least one month; or
• A British subject who is not an Australian citizen but who was on the Roll on 25 January 1984 and who has lived at their current address for at least one month.

Application for registration

The AEC must satisfy itself that all requirements for registration are met in order to register a party and include it on the Register of Political Parties:

• It must ensure that the decision to register, or to refuse to register, a party is properly made and able to withstand scrutiny;
• Challenges to registration may involve issues such as the acceptability of a name, whether the membership criteria are properly satisfied or whether the application is properly made e.g. by appropriate party members.

Party name - Section 129 of the Act provides that an application will be refused if the party name or its abbreviation:

• Is more than six words long;
• Is obscene;
• Is the same as, or is likely to be confused with, or mistaken for, the name of a recognised political party, unless that other party is a related party;
• Recognised political party - A Parliamentary party, a registered political party, or a party that is recognised or registered in a State or Territory and has endorsed a candidate in its current name in that State or Territory in the previous 5 years is a recognised political party;
• Related party - Political parties are related if they are parts of the same party e.g. one is a branch or a division of the other;

• Suggests that a relationship or connection with a registered party exists if that connection or relationship does not in fact exist;
• Uses the words ‘Independent Party’, or the word ‘Independent’ with the name of a recognised political party, or in a way that is likely to be confused with the name of a recognised political party.

The naming rules also apply to any abbreviation or acronym of the name.

Abbreviated name - A party may register an abbreviation of its name i.e. a shortened version or an acronym of its full party name. The abbreviation or acronym cannot be a separate or alternative name for the party.

Contact details - Contact details as specified on the application form should be provided to assist processing and any subsequent dealings with the AEC. It is important that changes to these contact details be provided to the AEC as they occur in order to ensure that correspondence is received in a timely manner.

Branches or divisions - Where the party applying for registration is a branch or division of a registered political party, the name of that registered party must be provided in the application:

• The branch or division must be eligible for registration in its own right. It must be a Parliamentary party or a non-Parliamentary party whose membership is not relied on for registration purposes by another party, including another related party such as the parent political party;
• It may use a name, or abbreviation, which is the same or similar to that of the parent party;
• The funding and disclosure provisions (Part XX of the Act) provide for a registered party to be organised on a State or Territory branch, or divisional, basis without the various branches or divisions being separately registered as political parties.

Election funding - The party must indicate whether or not it wishes to receive public election funding. This information will be included in the public register.

Candidates who receive 4% or more of the formal first preference votes in an electorate in a Federal election or by-election are entitled to such funding. For Senate groups, the group as a whole must win at least 4% of the votes in their State or Territory in order to be eligible for public funding. The amount payable is indexed to the consumer price index, for the 2001 election it was $1.94397 per vote:

• The funding entitlement of candidates and Senate groups endorsed by a registered political party is payable to the agent of the party, or to the agent of a State or Territory branch of the party. The entitlement may be paid (e.g. to a parent party) in accordance with funding agreements lodged with the AEC;
• Additional information about election funding and the appointment of party agents is provided in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties.

Registered Officer - The registered officer is the person whose name and address will appear in the public register. This is the person:

• To whom all correspondence about party registration will be addressed by the AEC; and
• Who signs nomination forms for the party’s endorsed candidates.

The registered officer may nominate one or more Deputy Registered Officers by notice to the AEC using the form in the Appendix to this Handbook.

Applicant details – Each signatory to the application must disclose their name, address and the capacity in which they are making the application. The capacity may be Parliamentary member, party member (preferably office bearers), or party secretary.

Attachment to Application

Application fee - The $500 application fee is required by law. It cannot be varied by the AEC and is not refundable if the application is refused, or is withdrawn.

Cheques should be made payable to ‘CPM - Australian Electoral Commission’.

Related parties - Evidence of the relationship between parties (e.g. where the applicant party is a branch or division of a registered political party) must be provided.

This may be in the constitutions of the two parties, or it may be a minuted resolution of the Executive Committees of the parties confirming the relationship. The secretary of the parent party should provide a letter acknowledging the application, and a copy of the evidentiary documents.

The application must be consistent with the constitution of the party, and of the branch. For example, the constitutions may require the parent to formally approve the application.

Constitution - A political party, whether it is a body corporate or an association, must be established on the basis of a written constitution or by-laws setting out the aims of the party.

The detailed structure and content of the constitution are not specified in the Act. However, the following matters must be addressed to enable registration to be granted:

• The aims of the party, one of which must be endorsement of candidates to contest House of Representatives and/or Senate elections. This is required by the section 123 definition of eligible political party;
• The terms and conditions of party membership e.g. procedures for accepting new members and lapsing or terminating membership. This is necessary to demonstrate compliance with the membership requirements of an eligible political party.

Additional matters that might be considered by the party’s advisers for inclusion in the constitution, or for consideration more generally include:

• The costs and benefits of incorporation as a company or an association;
• Governance arrangements e.g. procedures for appointing office bearers, establishing committees, quorum and meeting requirements etc;
• Party structure, including related branches and divisions;
• Procedures for amending the constitution;
• Procedures for winding up the party.

A copy of the constitution must accompany the application. This should be certified that it is a true and correct copy of the original.

Membership - Registration as a political party may only be granted to organisations meeting the definition of an eligible political party.

The party:

• Must have at least one Parliamentary member; or
• At least 500 non-Parliamentary members who are eligible to be on the Commonwealth electoral roll.

Two or more parties cannot rely on the same member to qualify as an eligible political party. The effect of this ‘no-overlap’ rule is that:

• No member who is put forward as one of the 500 members required for registration purposes can be used for the registration of another Federally registered party;
• No member of Parliament who is put forward as a Parliamentary member of a party can be used for the registration of another Federally registered party;
• Parties should maintain records of the members upon whom they rely for registration purposes, including up-to-date contact details.

A member of Parliament who has made application for the registration of a party must resign from that party if they wish to make application for the registration of another political party. The AEC will deregister that first party if it does not have a Parliamentary member, or 500 non-parliamentary members.

A person who is found to be relied upon as one of the 500 members of two non-parliamentary party will be given 30 days to decide which party is entitled to rely on their membership. If a selection is not made, neither party can rely on that member.

The following documentary evidence must be provided with an application for registration in order that the AEC may satisfy itself that the membership requirements are met:

In the case of a Parliamentary party:

• The Parliamentary member, or members, sponsoring the application should confirm their party membership by letter to the AEC on their official Parliamentary letterhead. This letter should confirm that they are not members of any political party other than the applicant political party;
• The secretary of the party should provide a statutory declaration affirming that the Parliamentary member (or members), are members of the party.

In the case of a non-Parliamentary party: ‘the 500 rule’

• The originals, or copies of, at least 500 signed membership application forms, each declaring that the signatory is a member of the party and is entitled to be enrolled on the Commonwealth electoral roll, should be provided. Each form should include a unique annexure number, and be also signed by the party secretary and witnessed by the witness to the statutory declaration discussed below;
• A pro-forma membership application form meeting these information requirements is included as an Appendix to this Handbook. These documents will be returned at the completion of the AEC’s consideration of the application.

• A Microsoft compatible electronic membership list (and paper copy) providing the following information for each member:
• Surname and given names;
• Address, including State and postcode;
• Telephone contact numbers;
• Date of birth;
• Annexure number of the membership form.

• A statutory declaration from the party secretary affirming that the 500 or more membership application forms have each been signed by the person whose details appear on the form, and that each is a member of the party;
• Each form must be cross-referenced (by annexure number) to the statutory declaration, and each must be signed by the secretary and witnessed by the person who witnessed the statutory declaration;
• A draft statutory declaration, with a list of persons before whom it may be made, is included as an Appendix to this Handbook;
• It is a matter for the party secretary to ensure that procedures are in place to enable the declaration to be properly made.

Parties wishing to prepare their own membership application forms should ensure that these meet AEC requirements. Drafts should be submitted for approval as forms that do not clearly set out the required information will not be accepted.

A random sample of members will be contacted by the AEC for verification purposes.

Application Checklist

This checklist is to ensure that all information and attachments are provided with an application for the registration of a political party:

• Are the details in the application (party name, abbreviation and funding election) exactly as you wish them to appear on the Public Register?
• Have you completed all applicable parts of the application form?
• Have you enclosed the $500 application fee?
• Have you attached a copy of the party’s constitution?
• In the case of a Parliamentary party:
• Is the application signed by the secretary or by all of the members who are members of the Commonwealth Parliament?
• Have you attached a letter from each of the Parliamentary members on their Parliamentary letterhead, and a statutory declaration by the party secretary affirming their membership of the party?
• In the case of a non-Parliamentary party:
• Is the application signed by 10 party members?
• Is the party secretary one of those 10 members?
• Have they each provided an address that is not a post office box and advised the capacity in which they are signing?
• Have you attached at least 500 completed and signed membership application forms that have also been signed by the party secretary and witnessed by the person witnessing the statutory declaration?
• Have you provided a statutory declaration from the secretary attesting to the membership declarations?
• Have you attached a membership list in electronic and paper formats?

• In the case of a branch or division of a federally registered political party:
• If the parties’ constitutions provide for a branch or divisional structure, have you attached a letter from the secretary of the parent party acknowledging the application?
• If the parties’ constitutions do not provide for a branch or divisional structure, have you attached a letter from the secretary of the parent party enclosing a minuted resolution of the Executive Committees of each of the parties?