Upcoming events
Would you like to find out more about the funding and disclosure reforms?
Join us at the Australian Parliament House for our demonstration of
the future FAD system portal on Wednesday 25 March 2026 1pm – 4pm AEDT or
Thursday 26 March 2026 11am – 1pm AEDT. Look out for the FAD Reform sign near the staff
cafeteria!
If you’re not able to attend one of our in-person sessions, you can also join an
online demonstration on Friday 27 March 2026 2pm-3pm AEDT via Microsoft Teams.
Register here
FAD resources
Our latest educational and guidance materials are available here.
These resources are designed to help you meet your changed funding and
disclosure obligations.
We are continually adding materials as they are developed:
- Fact sheets – overviews of key topics
- Guidelines – categorised by entity type
- Explainers and videos – coming soon.
What’s changing?
From 1 July 2026, new funding and disclosure requirements will apply.
Understand
how today’s scheme differs from the future state.
- What applies now
- What will change under the new legislation
- What remains the same.
Questions and answers
We are committed to transparency and equitable access to information as the
reforms progress. This section provides practical answers to support compliance and
understanding.
- Public responses to questions of broad interest
- Updates as we interpret and apply the legislation
- Clear guidance for affected members of the regulated community.
The funding and disclosure legislative changes impact the Australian public, disclosure entities and the AEC.
The AEC’s regulatory functions will expand significantly as a result of the changes.
The AEC is undertaking extensive preparations to implement new policy, processes, resourcing, tools, systems
and technology to deliver the significant changes required to administer the scheme.
The AEC will communicate with impacted disclosure entities and provide guidance and support leading up to,
and following, commencement of the changes.
The legislation also introduced minor amendments that came into effect immediately.
The broad details of the significant reforms and the minor amendments are summarised below. Note, this is
not an exhaustive list.
- Donations for a federal purpose that total greater than $5,000 will need to be disclosed.
- Indexation of the disclosure threshold occurs on each 1 January that follows a general election.
- Expedited disclosure: Introduces timely disclosure requirements for donations for a
federal purpose over the disclosure threshold, with the time for reporting by a recipient depending on
the
proximity to an election.
- Election period begins on the day the writ is issued for an election and ends on
polling
day.
- Expedited notice period begins on the Saturday preceding polling day for an
election and
ends seven days after polling day
- A donation disclosure notice must be completed by political parties, members of
Parliament, candidates, significant third parties, associated entities, nominated entities and third
parties
within 7 days during the election period and within 24 hours during the expedited notice period.
- Donors must complete a donation disclosure notice within 7 days during an election between the issue
of
writ and seven days after polling day.
- Outside of an election, donations must be reported by all entities and donors by the 21st day of the
following month after the donation.
- Introduces an annual cap on donations for a federal purpose of $50,000. In a calendar year, a
person/entity can donate up to $50,000 to a single recipient.
- The state/territory donation cap: a maximum of 5 times the annual cap (up to $250,000) can be
donated in a
single state/territory in a calendar year.
- The overall donation cap is 32 times the annual donation cap. In a calendar year a person/entity can
donate no more than $1.6 million to multiple recipients.
- Donation recipients are: political parties, members of the House of Representatives, senators,
candidates,
significant third parties, associated entities, nominated entities and third parties.
- By-election donation cap: a maximum of the annual cap (up to $50,000) can be donated for a single
by-election during the election.
- Senate-only elections donation cap: a maximum of the annual cap (up to $50,000) can be donated for a
single Senate-only election during the election.
- A donation made for a by-election or a Senate-only election does not count towards the annual cap,
state/territory cap, overall cap.
- Political parties, candidates, members of the House of Representatives, senators, significant third
parties, associated entities, nominated entities and third parties are subject to caps on how much
electoral
expenditure they can incur in a calendar year.
- For the purposes of the expenditure caps, expenditure is aggregated across members of an
expenditure group. The cap applies to the group’s total expenditure. An
expenditure
group is made up of the following:
- Core members including the political party (group owner), state branches, endorsed candidates,
endorsed parliamentarians, nominated entities
- Other related branches, candidates, parliamentarians and nominated entities that are part of the
group
owner.
- Expenditure group expenditure caps:
- The totals below apply to a registered political party and members of its expenditure group
- Federal cap is set at a total of $90 million
- Divisional cap is set at $800,000
- Senate cap is a formula, multiplying the Senate base amount of $200,000 by the number of
divisions in
that state or territory.
- Significant third parties, associated entities and third parties are capped expenditure
entities and also subject to expenditure caps:
- Total expenditure of $11.25 million
- Divisional limit of $100,000
- Senate cap is a formula, multiplying the Senate base amount of $25,000 by the number of
divisions in
that state or territory.
- Independent House of Representative candidates and members expenditure
caps:
- Divisional cap is set at $800,000.
- Independent Senate candidate or senator expenditure caps:
- Independent Senate cap is a formula: multiplying the Senate base amount of $200,000 by the
number of
divisions in that state or territory and dividing the result by 6 for a state or by 2 for a
territory.
- There are also caps that apply in by-elections and Senate-only elections and for Senate groups.
- Introduces a new registered entity.
- Any exchanges between a registered political party and an entity registered as the nominated entity
of the
party are not gifts.
- Registration is required for a nominated entity to be appointed by a party.
- A nominated entity is also an associated entity (it operates wholly, or to a significant extent, for
the
benefit of the party).
- A party can only have one nominated entity, and a nominated entity can only be appointed to one
party.
- Registered political parties, candidates, members of the House of Representatives, senators,
significant
third parties, associated entities, nominated entities and third parties must have a federal account
to be
used for paying for electoral expenditure or for receiving donations for a federal purpose.
- An entity can have more than one federal account.
- Donations in a federal account must be for a federal purpose and therefore form part of expedited
disclosure.
- For the purpose of receiving election funding, relevant entities must use a federal account.
- New parties, significant third parties, associated entities and nominated entities cannot be
registered
without a federal account.
- Introducing Federal administrative account: where the amounts deposited into the
account
are used only for a federal administrative purpose.
- Change to the definition of donation: amending the inclusions and exclusions.
- Change to the definition of candidate: amending when a person becomes, and ceases
to be,
a candidate.
- Change to the definition of third party: the definition changes from being linked
to the
disclosure threshold (now $5,000) and is instead linked to the new third party disclosure threshold
(currently $20,000).
- Change to the definition of electoral expenditure: specifically excludes
expenditure of
an administrative nature.
- Introducing administrative expenditure: clarifying expenditure for a federal
administrative purpose separate from electoral expenditure.
- A peak representative body is an entity that satisfies a number of conditions, represents the shared
interests of other organisations, and may also be a significant third party, an associated entity or a
third
party.
- They can credit to their federal accounts a greater amount of subscriptions / affiliation fees /
levies
from their members (up to 4 times the annual donation cap).
- Reporting period moving from financial year to calendar year (excluding expedited reporting).
- Calendar year reporting requirements will be introduced for political parties, candidates, members
of the
House of Representatives, senators, significant third parties, associated entities, nominated entities
and
third parties, with shorter timeframes for reporting.
- Annual returns will be due 8 weeks after the end of the calendar year.
- Donors will no longer be required to complete an annual return (but will need to complete expedited
disclosure notices).
- The type of entity will determine the disclosure requirements. Broadly, the content of the returns
may
include:
- total receipts
- total donations received for a federal purpose that have not already been reported under
expedited
reporting
- details of receipts that total more than the threshold
- total payments
- total electoral expenditure
- reporting on divisional and Senate electoral expenditure
- total debts
- detail of debts that total more than the threshold
- details of discretionary benefits received from the Commonwealth.
- Returns for relevant entities will include reporting on administrative assistance funding, including
an
audit statement.
- Election returns will be replaced by expedited disclosure and annual candidate returns.
- The act allows for the creation of regulations to establish a process for election funding to be
paid in
advance to parliamentary parties and candidates who, in the previous federal election, were entitled
to
election funding.
- Introduces a new system of administrative assistance funding for parliamentary parties and
independent
parliamentarians.
- The entitlement is $7,500 for each member of the House of Representatives per quarter and $3,750 for
each
senator per quarter (pro-rata calculations may apply) paid quarterly in advance.
- Information from donation disclosure notices on the Transparency Register
- Within 24 hours of receiving them during an election between the issue of writ and 7 days after
polling day.
- At all other times, within 10 days of receiving them.
- Information from annual returns
- Within 10 weeks of the end of the calendar year.
- Disclosure threshold
- Each 1 January that follows a general election.
- Expenditure caps
- Donation cap
- Third party threshold
- Administrative assistance funding entitlement
The funding and disclosure minor amendments came into effect on 21 February
2025,
the day after Royal Assent, and are related to:
- Registration of significant third parties and associated entities
- providing for the AEC to refuse a new registration if the person or entity is not required to be
registered
- introducing deregistration reviews by the AEC.
- Transparency Register
- introducing a requirement for the AEC to publish the information included in disclosure returns
only
- removing the requirement for the AEC to publish returns.
Contact details
Contact
Funding and Disclosure Reform (FAD Reform)
Australian Electoral
Commission
Postal Address
Locked Bag 4007
Canberra ACT 2601
Disclaimer: The AEC provides general information to help participants understand electoral
funding
and disclosure requirements. This information should not be relied upon as legal or financial advice.
Individuals
and organisations should obtain their own independent advice to understand how the Commonwealth Electoral
Act
1918 applies to their specific circumstances.
Funding and disclosure reform, Funding and disclosure legislative
changes, Disclosure
changes, Donation caps, Disclosure threshold, Electoral Reform Act 2025, Expedited disclosure, Annual returns,
Election returns, FAD reform
Updated: 20 March 2026
