Registration of candidates and groups
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What is registration?
Registration means being registered under the Electoral Funding Act as a candidate or group with the NSW Electoral Commission for a State or Local Government election and having your registered details included on a public register.
The NSW Electoral Commission publishes registers on the NSW Electoral Commission website.
A candidate, or group of candidates, must be registered with the NSW Electoral Commission for an election before accepting political donations or making payments for electoral expenditure. It is unlawful for unregistered candidates and groups to accept political donations or make payments for electoral expenditure.
How to register
Candidates, and groups of candidates, are responsible for their own registration.
Registration for the election is open now. Candidates and groups can register using Funding and Disclosure Online. Follow the instructions for online registrations. If you are unable to access Funding and Disclosure Online, registration forms are available by contacting 1300 022 011 or fdc@elections.nsw.gov.au.
A candidate is registered once the NSW Electoral Commission has received and processed a validly lodged registration.
Current Councillors and Mayors are not required to be registered for the election prior to accepting political donations or making payments for electoral expenditure.
The deadline for submitting an application for registration is the day of the close of nominations.
On the day the Returning Officer announces the names of the nominated candidates all nominated candidates and groups are taken to be registered for electoral funding purposes. From this time, all nominated candidates and groups can lawfully accept political donations and make payments for electorate expenditure for the election.
Registers of candidates and groups
The registered details of candidates are included in the Register of candidates.
The registered details of groups are included in the Register of groups of candidates.
A copy of the registers, including the residential address of each candidate, except those who are silent electors, is available for inspection by appointment at the NSW Electoral Commission’s Sydney office. If a candidate becomes a silent elector at any time after registration the candidate should notify the NSW Electoral Commission to ensure the address provided at the time of registration is not available.
Registration of a group of candidates
The registration of a group of candidates is separate to the registration of the candidates who are members of the group.
Applications to register a group may be made using Funding and Disclosure Online. The lead candidate of the group must make the application to register as a candidate and to register the group. Members of the group must apply to be registered as a candidate before they can be added to the group by the lead candidate. Follow the instructions on how to register as a group of candidates.
If you are unable to access Funding and Disclosure Online, registration forms are available by contacting 1300 022 011 or fdc@elections.nsw.gov.au.
A group of candidates, and the candidates who are members of that group, are registered once the NSW Electoral Commission has received and processed a validly lodged registration. It is unlawful for the group to accept political donations or pay for electoral expenditure until registered, or until the day the Returning Officer announces the names of the nominated candidates.
Refusal to register a candidate or group
The NSW Electoral Commission may refuse to register a candidate or group of candidates if:
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information provided in an application for registration is incomplete or incorrect, or
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the name of the group is obscene or offensive.
Updating the registered details of a candidate or group
Candidates and groups must notify the NSW Electoral Commission of any changes to the details included on the register within 30 days of the change occurring. If a candidate becomes a silent elector at any time after registration, the candidate should notify the NSW Electoral Commission.
To update details use Funding and Disclosure Online following the instructions on updating your registered details. If you are unable to access Funding and Disclosure Online, a form is available by contacting 1300 022 011 or fdc@elections.nsw.gov.au.
The NSW Electoral Commission will make changes to registered details of a candidate or group upon receipt of the form.
Cancellation of a candidate or group's registration
The NSW Electoral Commission will cancel the registration of a candidate or group if requested by the candidate or group.