Background

Federal registration as a political party provides rights, benefits and compliance obligations to organisations wishing to promote the election of candidates to the Commonwealth Parliament.

Why Register?

Registration is not compulsory.

The benefits of registration include:

• Party affiliation (the party name or its abbreviation) may be printed next to the names of endorsed candidates and Senate groups on ballot papers (sections 169, 210A and 214 of the Act refer);

• Access to copies, including electronic copies, of the electoral roll and habitation index for each State and Territory in which the party is organised, and voting information in relation to an election (section 90B of the Act refers). There are restrictions on the use of this sensitive information for other than the electoral purposes allowed by sections 91A and 91B of the Act;

• Access to an electronic list of postal vote applicants for an election (section 189A of the Act refers);

• Election funding, where the entitlements of candidates who have been endorsed by the party and who receive at least 4% of formal first preference votes are paid to the party agent (sections 294 –302 of the Act, and the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties refer).

Obligations

The compliance obligations include the need to meet the eligibility requirements for registration on an ongoing basis.

These requirements include:

• Having a satisfactory name;

• Having at least one Commonwealth Parliamentarian who is not a member of another party, or at least 500 members who are eligible to enrol on the Commonwealth electoral roll and who are not also relied upon by another party for registration purposes.

A registered political party must also ensure that the information in the public Register of Political Parties is up-to-date and accurate.

These compliance obligations are discussed further in this Handbook.

Other compliance obligations, which extend also to State and Territory branches (regardless of whether or not they are separately registered as political parties), include:

• The need to appoint a party agent with the AEC;

• The need to meet annual financial reporting requirements; and

• Being subject to AEC compliance reviews.

These obligations are discussed further in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties.

Public Information

The public accountability of political parties is enhanced by the disclosure of information lodged with the AEC by political parties and others:

• The Register of Political Parties provides a list of all registered political parties, whether the party elects to receive election funding, and the name of the registered officer;

• Financial disclosure returns provide details of the revenue, expenditure and debts of registered political parties, and their State or Territory branches;

• Financial disclosure returns of candidates, donors, broadcasters and publishers, and associated entities of political parties include similar information.

Detailed information about the election funding and disclosure requirements is available in the funding and disclosure handbooks referred to in the introduction to this Handbook.

What is a Political Party?

A political party is an organisation whose objectives or activities include the promotion of the election of endorsed candidates to the Australian parliament.

It may be a body corporate, an association of persons or organisations (whether incorporated or not), or a branch or division of one of these.

Registration is available to Federal parties, and to their various State or Territory branches or divisions. While State or Territory branches of a registered political party do not need to be separately registered, they must each appoint an agent to lodge disclosure returns and to receive election funding (if this is payable).

A political party that is eligible for registration is an organisation with at least one member who is a member of the Commonwealth Parliament, or with at least 500 members eligible to enrol on the Commonwealth electoral roll.

The party must be established on the basis of a written constitution describing the aims of the party, one of which must be promotion of the election to the Senate or to the House of Representatives of candidates endorsed by it:

• Political parties that are not registered with the AEC do not receive election funding on behalf of their candidates. They are classified as donors or third parties for the purposes of the disclosure provisions of the Act should they make or receive donations, or incur electoral expenditure. The Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Donors and Third Parties applies.

• Federal political party registration is separate and distinct to any registration requirements under State or Territory law. Information about the registration requirements for State, Territory or local government elections is available from individual State or Territory electoral offices whose details are available through links at www.aec.gov.au.