An agent is the person responsible for the obligations of an electoral participant under the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023 – i.e. a party, member, candidate, associated entity, third-party campaigner or significant political donor.
There are two types of agents in Tasmanian parliamentary elections – party agents and official agents.
A party agent acts on behalf of a registered party and any of their endorsed House of Assembly members or candidates. An official agent acts on behalf of independent members, independent candidates, associated entities, third-party campaigners and significant political donors.
An agent may act for more than one electoral participant, and a party agent may act as an official agent for an endorsed Legislative Council member or candidate.
No qualifications are required for a person to register as a party agent or official agent for an electoral participant. However, people cannot be appointed as either a party agent or an official agent in Tasmanian parliamentary elections if they have been any of the following:
Find out more information about party agents and official agents by watching the video below.
A party must register their party agent with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission within 30 days of the party itself registering with the Commission, or within 30 days of 1 July 2025 (for parties already registered at this date). To register, use the Application to register a party agent form.
If a party does not have a party agent registered at any time, the party’s registered officer (under the Electoral Act 2004) is the party agent by default.
Independent House of Assembly members, independent House of Assembly candidates, Legislative Council members, Legislative Council candidates, associated entities, third-party campaigners and significant political donors must register their official agent by using the Application to register an official agent form.
If an electoral participant is an unincorporated body, then they must register their official agent with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission within 14 days of the electoral participant’s registration.
If any of these electoral participants is a corporation and chooses not to appoint an official agent, the corporation’s financial controller will become their agent by default. If an electoral participant is an individual and chooses not to appoint an official agent, they will become their own official agent by default. Any such financial controller or individual who is an official agent by default will also appear on the Register of Official Agents. They must provide the Tasmanian Electoral Commission with their name, address and occupation as soon as possible after becoming an official agent to meet their registration requirements.
Both the Register of Party Agents and the Register of Official Agents are kept continuously. Unless the electoral participant or their agent advises the Commission to remove an agent’s registration, they’ll remain registered and do not need to re-register for every election or by-election. An agent’s responsibility for disclosure and funding obligations ends when the Commission is notified via the Removal of an agent form, at which time a new agent must be registered.
Party agents and official agents must notify the Commission within 30 days of any of their registered details changing – for example, moving to a new address. To update the Register, use the Change of registration details form.