Information for donors
Political donors are Australian citizens, residents or businesses that give money or other gifts to:
- political parties registered in Victoria
- candidates at a Victorian State election
- a group of Legislative Council (upper house) candidates at a Victorian State election
- elected members of the Victorian Parliament
- associated entities operating in Victoria
- nominated entities of political parties registered in Victoria
- third-party campaigners operating in Victoria.
You are not allowed to make a political donation if you are not an Australian citizen or Australian resident, or an Australian business with an Australian Business Number (ABN).
Donation limits
You cannot:
- donate more than the general cap to any single recipient in the 4 years between state elections
- donate to more than 6 third-party campaigners in the 4 years between state elections.
A single recipient could be:
- a registered political party, its endorsed candidates, elected members and its nominated entity
- members of a group of independent Legislative Council (Upper House) candidates.
This means you cannot give more than the general cap in combined donations to candidates or elected members from the same party in the 4 years between elections. You also cannot give more than the general cap in total to members of a group of independent candidates in the 4 years between elections.
When do I need to disclose a donation I made?
You must disclose donations of the disclosure threshold value or higher on VEC Disclosures within 21 days of making the donation.
If you make multiple donations to the same recipient in a financial year and the total matches or exceeds the disclosure threshold, you must disclose each donation.
You must disclose each of these donations within 21 days of making the donation that took you up to or over the disclosure threshold.
If you make further donations after meeting or exceeding the disclosure threshold, you must also disclose each additional donation you make.
If your donation must be disclosed the recipient is obliged to let you know.
Examples
Example 1
Rakesh donates $2,000 to his preferred political party. The party gives Rakesh a receipt and says he must disclose his donation within 21 days of making the payment.
Rakesh discloses his donation using VEC Disclosures.
Example 2
Mary wants to donate $2000 to her local independent Member of Parliament (MP). Mary sets up a bank transfer to donate $500 to her MP every 2 months starting in July.
After Mary’s 4th donation, the MP emails Mary to say her donations are up to $1500 and this is above the disclosure threshold in Victoria. Mary must disclose the donations using VEC Disclosures.
Mary goes to VEC Disclosures and makes 4 disclosures: one for each payment in July, September, December and March.
When Mary makes her final donation in May she must also disclose this within 21 days.
Example 3
Joe donates $3000 to his local MP in January.
The MP emails Joe a receipt and tells him this amount is above the disclosure threshold. Joe goes to VEC Disclosures and discloses the donation.
In May, Joe makes 2 more donations of $500 each to his MP. Joe must disclose both donations on VEC Disclosures. Joe must also make sure he does not go over the general cap in the 4 years between elections.
Do all donations need to be disclosed?
No, you do not need to disclose donations of $60 or less.
This amount is indexed on 1 July each year. The Indexation page has more information.
It is an offence to make multiple small donations to avoid disclosing them to us.
What information do I need?
You must provide:
- your name and address
- the name of who you donated to
- the date you made the donation
- the type of donation (for example money, service, loan, guarantee, property)
- the amount of the donation (we may ask for evidence if the donation was a service or goods like office or equipment hire).
These details will be published on VEC Disclosures, except for your full address. Your suburb and state will be published. If you are a silent elector, none of your address details will be published.
Penalties
There are fines and possible prison terms for who do not comply with political donation laws.
If you give a political donation that is prohibited by law and the recipient accepts the donation, the recipient must forfeit your donation to us.
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Action |
Consequence |
|---|---|
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Not disclosing a donation of or above the disclosure threshold within 21 days of making the donation. This includes multiple donations to one recipient that in total meet or go above the threshold. |
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Giving false or misleading information about a donation. |
300 penalty units or up to 2 years' prison time, or both |
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Not keeping evidence of a donation (for example a receipt) for at least 4 years after the donation. |
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Giving a banned donation on purpose. Banned donations are:
|
300 penalty units or 2 years' prison time
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Planning or acting out a scheme to get around prohibited donation laws. |
Up to 10 years' prison time. |
Make a disclosure
To disclose a political donation or view existing donations, visit VEC Disclosures.
VEC Disclosures is best viewed using Google Chrome.