Political donations
You must be registered for the election before accepting political donations.
Once your registration is confirmed by the NSW Electoral Commission you may accept political donations for the election so long as they comply with the law.
Candidates and groups who are not already registered before being nominated are taken to be registered once the NSW Electoral Commission confirms that they have been validly nominated. Political donations can be accepted for the election from that time.
There are strict rules in NSW about who can make political donations. Only people on the electoral roll, entities with an Australian business number, or people whose identification has been accepted by the NSW Electoral Commission can lawfully make political donations. Anonymous donations are unlawful.
Recipients of donations should take all reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that every individual donor is permitted to make a political donation before accepting it. Such steps could include, but are not limited to:
- Recommending that individual donors check their own enrolment prior to donating. This may be done using our online tool.
- Requiring all individual donors (not just major donors) to provide their enrolled address details during the donation process, whenever feasible (such as through online donations)
- Requiring all potential donors to confirm during the donation process that they are enrolled and are not otherwise prohibited from making political donations under NSW law
- Not accepting any donations made electronically where enrolment details are not provided or confirmed for individual donors
A receipt must be issued for all reportable donations received, and the name and enrolled address of an individual donor must be recorded on that receipt.
It is unlawful to accept a political donation from an individual who is not enrolled or who is otherwise a prohibited donor. If a donation is accepted from an individual who is not enrolled or is a prohibited donor, the NSW Electoral Commission may take recovery action against the person responsible to the value of the unlawful donation.
Accepting such a donation may also be a criminal offence and twice the value of the unlawful donation may be recovered where the recipient knew that it was unlawful.
Up to $100 in cash can be accepted as a political donation. It is unlawful for a person to make or accept a political donation in the form of cash over $100.
Political donations in the form of cash over $100 must be made electronically or by cheque, so that they can be properly traced.
Donors can verify their enrolment using our online tool.
Political donations made to political parties, elected members, candidates, groups of candidates, associated entities, and third-party campaigners are capped in New South Wales.
Additionally, indirect campaign contributions that exceed certain threshold amounts are prohibited. The threshold amounts are equal to the caps on political donations.
A candidate or group can only accept donations from a political donor up to the applicable donation cap for the candidate or group each financial year. The donation caps are adjusted each financial year and are published on the Caps on political donations page.
Candidates and groups are permitted to accept political donations for the election at any time after they are registered for the election.
Yes. Any personal payments must be disclosed to the NSW Electoral Commission in the relevant half-yearly disclosure of political donations. While there is not a limit on the amount a candidate can contribute to their own campaign, electoral expenditure is capped, and the candidate must not breach the applicable electoral expenditure cap.
All personal payments or contributions, along with political donations received must be deposited into the campaign account, and payments for electoral expenditure must be made from the campaign account and disclosed as part of an annual disclosure of electoral expenditure.
View the expenditure caps for Local Government elections.
View the cap amounts and more information on political donations.
Political donations received and made must be reported to the NSW Electoral Commission every six months in a half-yearly disclosure declaration.
A reportable political donation is a donation that is valued at $1,000 or more. This includes multiple donations made by the same donor to the same recipient in the current financial year (starting 1 July 2024) that, in aggregate, are valued at $1,000 or more.
All reportable political donations must be disclosed within 6 weeks after the end of the half-year in which the political donation was received or made.
Small donations of less than $1,000 must be disclosed in the appropriate half-yearly donation disclosure.