Webinar Q&As

If you don't plan on accepting political donations or making payment for electoral expenditure before nomination, you don't have to register. You will be deemed registered once your nomination is confirmed and from that date, you can lawfully campaign.

If you are a current Councillor running for re-election, you do not have to register. You will have to disclose your donations and electoral expenditure in your elected member disclosures.

If your supporter is not a candidate, they will probably be a third-party campaigner who needs to register before making payment for electoral expenditure. 

Find more information on third-party campaigners.

If you're incurring the expenditure yourself, you don't need to register as a candidate because you are currently a Mayor. 

However, if your group is incurring the expenditure, the group will need to be registered before making any payment. 

After registration, you can change the composition of your group (add/remove members of the group) using our FD Online portal. 

Find more information about registration. 

Yes, a third-party campaigner can be a person or entity (including a corporation).

Third-party campaigners must disclose electoral expenditure incurred and political donations received. Major political donors (those donating more than $1,000 in a financial year) are also required to lodge a disclosure with the NSW Electoral Commission. 

Find more information about disclosures.

The applicable cap depends on the number of electors in the council. Groups that include a mayoral candidate have a higher cap, however, all expenditure incurred by the group and its candidates are aggregated for the purpose of the expenditure cap. This means that in total, the group and its candidates cannot incur more than the cap that applies to the group.

Find more information about expenditure caps.

There are caps on both electoral expenditure and donations. The cap on donations applies to all donations made by the same donor to the same recipient in a financial year. For example, in 2024/25, a donor can only make total donations of up to $3,800 to a candidate.