Disclosure and funding

Prohibited political donations

On this page

• Political donations from foreign donors
• Large cash donations
• Political donations to independent candidates from parties, endorsed candidates and associated entities
• Mandatory recording of details

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The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 prohibits certain types of political donations in Tasmanian parliamentary elections. These prohibitions support the transparency and integrity of electoral finances in Tasmania.

Political donations from foreign donors

The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 prohibits the acceptance of some political donations from foreign donors. A foreign donor can be any of the following:

• a body politic of a foreign country, or of a part of a foreign country
• a foreign public enterprise
• a body that is not incorporated in, or does not have a head office in, or does not have a principal place of activity in Australia
• a person who is not any of:
  • an elector
  • an Australian citizen
  • an Australian resident
  • a New Zealand citizen who holds a Subclass 444 (Special Category visa).

A political donation made by, or on behalf of, a foreign donor is prohibited if it is:

• made to a registered party, member, candidate or associated entity (including via one of these electoral participants’ party agent or official agent), and
• a gift of an amount or value of $1,000 or more.

For more detailed information about prohibited donations from foreign donors, please refer to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s Prohibited political donations policy.

Large cash donations

It is prohibited for any entity or person to make or accept a political donation in cash of more than $100. This does not preclude monetary donations made via other means – only those made in cash.

Political donations to independent candidates from parties, endorsed candidates and associated entities

It is prohibited for a registered party, endorsed House of Assembly member or candidate, or associated entity (in relation to which there is a registered party) to make a political donation to an independent House of Assembly member or candidate.

Mandatory recording of details

Receiving any type of political donation of $100 or more is prohibited unless the party agent or official agent accepting the donation records the required details.

An agent who accepts a donation worth $100 or more up to $999 must: 

• provide a receipt to the donor, and 
• record the name of the donor, the amount of the donation, and the date on which the donation was made. 

An agent who accepts a reportable political donation (i.e. a donation of $1,000 or more) must:  

• provide a receipt to the donor, using a receipt and acknowledgement book that has been approved by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, and  
• record the following for each donation made to their electoral participant –  
  • the date the donation was made 
  • the name of the donor 
  • the residential or office address of the donor 
  • the amount of the donation, and 
  • the relevant ABN of the donor (for donors who are not individual people). 

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