2024 Epping, Hornsby and Pittwater State by-elections bulletin No.7

Bulletin No.7
Issued 8 November 2024

Election results

The Acting Electoral Commissioner Dr Matthew Phillips has declared the results for the Legislative Assembly by-elections for the districts of Epping, Hornsby and Pittwater. The results are published on the NSW Electoral Commission’s website.

Return of the writ

The Commissioner endorsed the names of the elected candidates on the writs for the by-elections and returned the writs to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, 6 November 2024.

Disclosure obligations after the election

Political participants must disclose their political donations and electoral expenditure to the NSW Electoral Commission.

Candidate disclosure obligations continue until June 2025. These obligations apply even if you were not elected. If elected, you must also submit disclosures for the remainder of your term as an elected member. Failing to disclose when required is an offence and criminal penalties may apply for non-compliance.

Political donation disclosures for the period 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024 are due by 11 February 2025.

Electoral expenditure disclosures for the annual period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 are due by 22 September 2025.

Disclosures must be lodged even if no political donations were made or received during the half-yearly period and/or no electoral expenditure was incurred during the annual period.

More information about disclosure obligations can be found on our website.

Campaign accounts

If you used a campaign account for the election, you are required to comply with NSW electoral funding campaign account laws.

The information below applies to candidates who were endorsed by a political party. If you were a candidate who became an elected member, you can keep your campaign account and use it to accept political donations and pay for electoral expenditure as an elected member.

If you no longer require a campaign account to deposit political donations and/or pay for electoral expenditure:

• ensure all payments for electoral expenditure have been made
• if there are funds remaining in the campaign account, and you paid your own money into the account, you may reimburse yourself up to the amount you paid into the account
• if there are still funds remaining in the account after all payments and reimbursements, disperse the funds according to the instructions below, and
• obtain bank statements for the account.

Funds remaining in a campaign account must be dispersed as follows:

• a candidate or elected member’s campaign account – remaining funds are to be paid to the political party of which you are a member at the time of the election, or
• if the above does not apply, remaining funds are to be paid to your nominated charity or a charity nominated by the Electoral Commission

If a candidate is to receive a payment from the NSW Electoral Commission from the Election campaigns fund, the account needs to remain open so that the payment can be made into the account. 

After the funds have been dispersed from the campaign account and bank statements have been obtained, the account should be closed if no longer required. Accounting records are required to be kept for at least three years.

The above information does not apply to a political party’s state campaign account.

More information about campaign accounts.

Public funding payments

Registered political parties and candidates may be eligible to be reimbursed from the Election campaigns fund for electoral expenditure incurred in connection with the election. The fund is administered and regulated by the NSW Electoral Commission. To receive a payment from the fund, a party or candidate must meet certain criteria and then make a claim for payment.

The NSW Electoral Commission determines which parties and candidates meet the criteria to be eligible for a payment from the Election campaigns fund and we will advise all eligible parties and candidates of how to make a claim for payment. Claims for the Epping, Hornsby and Pittwater State by-elections conducted on 19 October 2024 must be validly lodged by 9 March 2025.

More information about the Election Campaigns Fund.

Nomination deposit returns

The nomination deposit is returned following the election if a candidate:

• is elected to the Legislative Assembly
• received at least four per cent of the total number of formal first preferences votes in a Legislative Assembly election.

The deposit is returned to:

• the registered officer of the party (if the candidate was nominated by a registered political party), or
• in any other case, the candidate (or a person authorised by the candidate in writing to receive it).

The processing of nomination deposit returns will commence in December 2024. Should you have any questions regarding the return of a nomination deposit please contact the candidate helpdesk on 1300 022 011 or email candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.