Compliance
On this page
The role of the TEC
It is the Tasmanian Electoral Commission’s role to be an independent regulator of electoral laws in our state – including electoral disclosure and funding laws. The Commission has developed a compliance approach that sets out how we will promote compliance with the registration, campaign finance and public funding requirements of the Electoral Act 2004 and the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023.
Tasmania’s electoral laws aim to enhance public confidence in our parliamentary elections by promoting awareness of political donations and electoral expenditure, and preventing undue influence by political donors and foreign donors. The laws include:
- the registration of candidates, Members, political parties, associated entities, third-party campaigners, and official/party agents
- the disclosure and lodgement of political donations and electoral expenditure by candidates, Members, political parties, associated entities, third-party campaigners, significant political donors and official/party agents
- caps on electoral expenditure for Legislative Council candidates, and
- the administration of electoral funding to eligible House of Assembly candidates, House of Assembly Members and registered political parties in elections.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission does not regulate:
- the placement of signs on roads, private property, etc
- concerns involving caretaker conventions, or use of government or parliamentary resources during the election period, or
- decisions of parliamentary members made in their capacity as elected officials.
Commitments and expectations
To promote compliance, the Tasmanian Electoral Commission provides publicly available educational content on all aspects of registration, disclosures and funding, to deliver guidance and support for all electoral participants in Tasmanian parliamentary elections.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission expects you (as an electoral participant) to:
- educate yourself about your obligations and read any correspondence issued by the Commission
- ask us for assistance if you need it, so we can help to clarify your obligations
- cooperate with us to resolve any non-compliance matters, including taking corrective action if we request you to, and
- learn from previous advice or warnings from the Commission and not repeat the same offences.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission takes a constructive approach to promote voluntary compliance with the relevant Acts, while responding effectively to non-compliance. Our compliance activities consider an election participant’s willingness to comply and rectify non-compliance, their history of engagement, and responses we receive from participants to inform any actions the Commission may take. The Commission’s compliance approach is illustrated below:
Compliance approach and policies
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission has developed policies to support electoral participants’ understanding of how we will conduct our disclosure and funding compliance activities.