A political party is an organisation formed to promote particular political beliefs, values or policies, and to contest elections. A party can be formed in Tasmania or it may be a local branch of a federal political party.
To be officially recognised, a party must be registered with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission and meet legal requirements, including having a constitution and a minimum number of eligible members.
Registered parties may endorse candidates in both House of Assembly and Legislative Council elections, and they have electoral disclosure and funding obligations in Tasmanian parliamentary elections.
Under the Electoral Act 2004, registering a political party requires an application by at least 100 members.
An application is to be made using the Application to register a political party form, which requires the following details:
An application must also be accompanied by a copy of the party’s constitutional documents.
Once an application is received by the Tasmanian Electoral Commission and assessed as complying with the Act, a notice of the details of the applications must be published in the Tasmanian Government Gazette and The Mercury, The Advocate and The Examiner newspapers. This is required by section 45 of the Act, and means that the name and locality of each person on the application are published.
A 30-day objection period commences the day after the publication of the notice, in which a person may object to the registration of the party. The grounds for objection are listed in section 47 of the Act.
After this period, the Commission has 21 days in which to consider the application and any objections, and make a decision to accept or reject the application.
All registered parties appear on the Tasmanian Party Register.
Note: any action on an application for registration must be suspended in the event that a Tasmanian parliamentary election commences. Such suspension applies until after the election period ends.
A registered officer’s responsibilities include the maintenance of their party’s registered information with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission and the nomination of the party’s endorsed parliamentary candidates.
To be a registered officer or deputy registered officer, a person must be enrolled on the Tasmanian State electoral roll.
If a registered officer is unable to meet their responsibilities under the Electoral Act 2004, a party’s deputy registered officer may perform any actions required of the registered officer.
A party’s registered officer must apply to the Tasmanian Electoral Commission to make any changes to their party’s registration using the relevant form (see below). This includes any change to the party’s name or their ballot paper name, adding or deleting registered members, and changing the registered officer or deputy registered officer.
A party agent is a person who is responsible for ensuring the party’s disclosure and funding obligations are met under the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023. They may also act as party agent on behalf of the party’s endorsed candidates. The registered officer or deputy registered officer may also be the party agent, provided they are eligible.
Once a party is registered with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, they must also submit an application to register a party agent within 30 days. The Commission recommends registering a party agent at the same time the party submits their party’s registration.
More information about party agents, maintaining or removing their registration, and who is eligible to register is on the Party agents and official agents page.
All registered parties have obligations under the Electoral Disclosure and Funding Act 2023. These obligations include:
The disclosure of electoral expenditure is made once for an election – after the election campaign period has ended. The disclosure of political donations is made monthly throughout the year, within seven days during election campaign periods, and in total after the election campaign period has ended.
Registered parties may also be eligible to claim for public funding for House of Assembly election campaigns from the Election Campaigns Fund.