A political donation is a gift made to or for the benefit of a political party, parliamentary member, candidate, associated entity or third-party campaigner, with an intended purpose of the gift.
Click on each electoral participant below to see the intended purposes of a political donation for each type, as set by the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023.
Political party
Any gift made to or for the benefit of a political party is a political donation, regardless of the use or intended use of the donation by the party. A political party must only use donations received for the objects and activities of the party – such as the administration of the party, or electoral expenditure for Assembly elections.
Member
A gift made to or for the benefit of a parliamentary member, that the member primarily uses or intends to use:
Candidate
A gift made to or for the benefit of a candidate, that the candidate primarily uses or intends to use:
Associated entity
A gift made to or for the benefit of an associated entity, that the entity primarily uses or intends to use:
Third-party campaigner
A gift made to or for the benefit of a third-party campaigner in relation to a House of Assembly election, that the campaigner primarily uses or intends to use:
Political donations include:
Political donations do not include:
More detailed legislative definitions of political donations can be found in the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s Political donations policy.
A reportable political donation is a political donation worth $1,000 or more to an electoral participant. This may include donations of money, the use of facilities, provision of services, or the payment of electoral expenditure on an electoral participant’s behalf. Reportable political donations have receipting requirements and are required to be disclosed under the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 – see How to accept a political donation below.
In addition to being a single donation of $1,000 or more, a reportable political donation may also be an aggregate of multiple political donations from the same donor to an electoral participant where the donations total $1,000 or more. For more information about how aggregate donations can become a reportable political donation, please refer to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s Political donations policy.
Political parties, members, candidates, associated entities, third-party campaigners and other political donors (like companies or members of the public) can all make political donations in Tasmanian parliamentary elections, with some specific prohibitions under the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023. Visit the Prohibited political donations webpage for more information.
Any electoral participant that makes a reportable political donation during an election campaign period is required to disclose the donation to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission.
Further information about political donors is available here.
The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 sets requirements for any electoral participant accepting any kind of political donation, including reportable political donations:
A party agent or official agent who accepts a political donation worth $100 or more has specific recordkeeping obligations.
The agent who accepts a donation worth $100 or more up to $999 must:
Both the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 and the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Regulations 2025 set requirements for the receipting of reportable political donations.
A party agent or official agent who accepts a reportable political donation (i.e. a donation of $1,000 or more) must:
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission provides an approved receipt and acknowledgement book to registered parties, candidates, members, associated entities and third-party campaigners so they can meet their receipting obligations under the Regulations. This book must be used to issue a receipt (for monetary reportable political donations) or an acknowledgement (for non-monetary reportable political donations).
The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Regulations 2025 allows electoral participants to issue receipts and acknowledgements electronically for reportable political donations received. The Regulations also require specific text to be included on receipts and acknowledgements.
Note: any electronic receipt or acknowledgement format must first be approved by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission prior to its use.
All information recorded at the time the donation is accepted, including copies of the receipts and acknowledgements, will then be required when the agent makes a reportable political donation disclosure.
Make a reportable political donation disclosure to disclose any political donations made in a Tasmanian parliamentary election.
Learn more about political donations by watching this pre-recorded webinar.