What is a campaign account?

A campaign account is an account held in Australian dollars with a financial institution for the purpose of isolating certain income and payments for an election from other income and payments. This means that election campaign finances can be more easily identified when a disclosure is audited by the NSW Electoral Commission.

Political parties, elected members (NSW Members of Parliament and councilors), candidates, groups of candidates, third-party campaigners and associated entities may be required to use a campaign account.

As part of a compliance audit, the NSW Electoral Commission may require a person or entity to provide copies of the bank statements of a campaign account.

Payments from the Election Campaigns Fund made by the NSW Electoral Commission to eligible parties and candidates are to be paid into the relevant campaign account.