The Tasmanian Electoral Commission administers the Election Campaigns Fund for registered parties and House of Assembly candidates. Eligible registered parties (for their endorsed candidates) and independent House of Assembly candidates may claim a payment after a House of Assembly election or by-election, to receive publicly funded reimbursement of electoral expenditure they incurred. The Election Campaigns Fund will come into effect on 1 July 2025 with the introduction of the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023.
Electoral expenditure is expenditure incurred for the dominant purpose of creating or communicating electoral matter in relation to a House of Assembly election. For more information about the definition of electoral expenditure, please see the electoral expenditure webpage.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission has also issued these guidelines to clarify what may be included as, or in, electoral expenditure claims:
Eligible electoral participants may claim funding for electoral expenditure incurred for the full election campaign period of the 2025 House of Assembly general election. The election campaign period runs from the dissolution of Parliament (11 June 2025) until the day that is 30 days after polling day (18 August 2025).
Registered parties and independent candidates may be eligible to claim from the Elections Campaign Fund for a House of Assembly election or by-election if they meet their eligibility criteria:
|
Eligibility requirements for registered parties |
Eligibility requirements for independent House of Assembly candidates |
Eligibility requirements for independent House of Assembly candidates who nominated in a group |
|---|---|---|
|
The party was registered on polling day, and |
The candidate was elected, or |
The candidate appeared on the ballot paper as a member of a group of candidates, and |
|
They endorsed a candidate who remained endorsed immediately before polling day, and |
The candidate received at least 4% of formal first preference votes in their division |
Candidates from the group received at least 4% collectively of the formal first preference votes in the candidate’s division |
|
For the above endorsed candidate’s division, the party received at least 4% collectively of the formal first preference votes for its endorsed candidates in that division |
Full eligibility details are in the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s House of Assembly funding policy.
Payments to eligible registered parties and independent House of Assembly candidates are not made automatically – a claim must be submitted to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission for each election or by-election in which electoral expenditure is incurred. For registered parties, their claim must be made by their party agent. House of Assembly candidates must make their own claims.
A claim must be made using the Election Campaigns Fund payment claim form, which includes a statutory declaration. The following information must be disclosed for each item of expenditure, and included alongside the claim form when it is submitted to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission provides a template for claimants to use, which will help them include the correct information for each item of expenditure.
The Election Campaigns Fund payment claim form and supporting documentation must be lodged with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission within 120 days after the day writs are returned for the election. A claim for funding may not be lodged before the end of the election campaign period. This allows for all relevant expenditure in the period to be considered as part of a claim, and all required evidence to be submitted to the Commission. The election campaign period for a House of Assembly election or by-election ends 30 days after the polling day for the election.
Payments from the Election Campaigns Fund to reimburse electoral expenditure incurred during a House of Assembly election or by-election are either the cost of the expenditure, or the maximum claimable amount – whichever is less.
The maximum claimable amount is shown in the table below for each formal first preference vote that was received by:
|
House of Assembly election event |
Maximum claimable amount per formal first preference vote received |
|---|---|
|
Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 (initial amount) |
$6.00 |
|
July 2025 State election |
$6.12 |
Funding limits are adjusted for inflation after each House of Assembly general election, then applied to payable claims made for that same election.
All payments are made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to the registered party or independent House of Assembly candidate’s campaign account. A party agent may also request a portion of their funding be paid direct to an endorsed candidate’s person bank account. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission aims to make payments within 60 days of a claim being validly lodged.
Note: payments of eligible claims cannot be paid if a registered party or independent House of Assembly member has a non-compliant or outstanding disclosure of the following:
If the Tasmanian Electoral Commission is unable to finalise a claim lodged for a registered party within 60 days of lodgement, the Commission will make a preliminary payment to the party. This will be for 90% of the total amount (estimated by the Commission) likely to be payable to the party, minus any advance payment made for the election. If a registered party receives a prepayment which is later assessed by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission to exceed their Election Campaigns Fund entitlement for the election, the excess amount must be repaid to the Commission.
Eligible registered parties may claim an advance payment from the Election Campaigns Fund for electoral expenditure to be incurred during the election campaign period of a House of Assembly general election. This payment is equal to 50% of the total amount of funding from Election Campaigns Fund the party was entitled to for the previous House of Assembly general election. Advance payments are made by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission during the election campaign period for the relevant election – either as a lump sum, or by instalments if requested by the party agent.
A claim for an advance payment may be lodged with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission any time between the beginning of the election campaign period and 10 business days before the polling day of the Assembly general election for which the registered party is claiming an advance payment, using the Election Campaigns Fund advance payment claim form. Payments are made by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission within 10 business days of a claim being lodged.
Any amount paid as an advance will then be deducted from the total amount payable to the registered party from the Election Campaigns Fund after the election campaign period. Additionally, any advance payment received by a registered party that either does not contest the House of Assembly general election, or ceases to operate before the election, must be repaid to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
All claims for payment from the Election Campaigns Fund are published to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s website.
Learn more about the Election Campaigns Fund by watching this pre-recorded webinar.