Roles and Obligations

The requirement to maintain status as an eligible political party and to maintain public register information is discussed in detail earlier in this Handbook. Other compliance issues relating to formal positions and duties established by the Act include:

Registered Officer

The registered officer is the person registered with the AEC to whom the AEC will address all correspondence about party registration matters:

• This is the person responsible for the nomination and endorsement of party candidates for the House of Representatives and the Senate;

• This is the person who can request that party affiliation (the party name or its abbreviation) be shown on ballot papers next to candidate’s names.

The registered officer may be changed by the formal notification procedures outlined in the Public Register chapter of this Handbook.

Deputy Registered Officer

The registered officer may delegate the power to sign nomination forms at Federal elections to a deputy registered officer:

• The nomination of a deputy registered officer must be in writing made to the AEC by the registered officer, and may be revoked by that person;
• A form for this purpose is available from the AEC. A copy is in the Appendix to this Handbook.

Party Secretary

This is the person, however described, responsible for the administration and correspondence of the party.

The secretary may sign applications dealing with the Register of Political Parties (i.e. registration, deregistration and change of name or registered officer) for a parliamentary party, and may be one of the signatories in the case of a non-parliamentary party of which the secretary is a member.

Parties should advise the AEC at the address in the introduction to this handbook, on official party letterhead, of the appointment of a new party secretary. In view of the importance of the secretary position, supporting documentation (e.g. signed and dated minutes of the meeting at which the secretary was appointed) should be provided.

The secretary and the registered officer may be the same person.

Funding and Disclosure

The following funding and disclosure obligations apply to registered political parties:

• Party agent - Parties must appoint an agent to act on their behalf on election funding and disclosure matters;
• A party agent must be appointed in each State or Territory in which the party is organised (i.e. has formal structure) or in which it has activities. The agent is appointed by the State or Territory branch where the party is organised in the State or Territory, or by the Federal party if the party merely carries on activities in the State or Territory;
• Election funding is paid to party agents based on the number of first preference votes received by their endorsed candidates and Senate groups;
• Agents are required to lodge annual returns of receipts, payments and debts, including the names and addresses of persons or organisations who donated or lent $10,500 or more to the party. These returns are on the public record;
• A form for the appointment of a party agent is available at www.aec.gov.au.
• Anonymous donations of $10,500 or more are illegal, and loans of $10,500 or more must be documented;
• Registered political parties are subject to compliance reviews by the AEC;
• Registered political parties should advise the AEC of their associated entities.

These requirements are explained more completely in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties available at www.aec.gov.au.

Branches and Divisions

Parties should notify the AEC of the establishment of new State or Territory branches. A State or Territory branch is a branch or division that is organised on the basis of a State or Territory i.e. is structured, has bank accounts, conducts meetings etc.

These do not need to separately register as a political party but they each must appoint an agent and meet disclosure obligations as set out in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Political Parties available at www.aec.gov.au.

Associated Entities

Associated entities are organisations controlled by, or operating wholly or to a significant extent for the benefit of one or more registered political parties.

They are required to lodge annual returns with similar detail to parties, and also to disclose the sources of capital used to generate funds to finance payments to a party or branch.

This definition and the disclosure requirements are explained more completely in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Associated Entities available at www.aec.gov.au.

Parties and branches should provide the AEC with contact details for the associated entities of their party.

Donors and Third Parties

People and organisations making donations to political parties are required to disclose donations totalling $10,500 or more.

They must:

• Disclose donations to other people or organisations which are intended to benefit a political party, where the total is $10,500 or more;
• Consider all donations, including those less than $10,500, when determining whether the $10,500 disclosure threshold has been met;
• Disclose donations they have received totalling $10,500 or more that they used to make donations of $10,500 or more to political parties.

These requirements are explained more completely in the Funding and Disclosure Handbook for Donors and Third Parties available at www.aec.gov.au.

Candidates

Agents of candidates and Senate groups (other than groups endorsed by a single party) must report total donations received, and details of persons or organisations that donated $10,500 or more to a candidate or $10,500 to a group.

They must also report details of certain categories of their expenditure.