Money · Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, Part XX
Paid per vote,
disclosed above a line.
Federal parties and candidates are funded from the public purse at $3.583 for every first-preference vote once they reach 4%, and must disclose gifts above $17,300. From 1 January 2027 the threshold falls to $5,000, donations are capped and campaign spending is limited for the first time at federal level.
Disclosure
The threshold,
year by year.
- $16,300 1 July 2023 – 30 June 2024
- $16,900 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025
- $17,300 1 July 2025 – 31 December 2026 Held at $17,300 for the transition half-year 1 July – 31 December 2026.
- $5,000 from 1 January 2027 Indexed each 1 January after a general election.
Gifts of more than the threshold must be disclosed by the party, candidate or third party that receives them and by the donor. Under the current scheme they appear in annual returns, published on the first working day of February for the financial year ending the previous 30 June. From 2027 returns move to calendar years, and gifts above $5,000 are disclosed within days during election periods (see below).
Annual returns published: 2023-24 on 3 February 2025; 2024-25 on 2 February 2026. Next: 2025-26 by 1 February 2027.
Public funding · 2025 federal election
$93.9 million
for 15,490,236 votes.
Parties, candidates and Senate groups that win at least 4% of formal first preferences receive election funding: the automatic payment, then up to the rate × votes if they claim it against electoral expenditure they actually incurred.
| From | To | Rate per vote | Automatic payment | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 2025 | — | $3.386 | $12,379 | Rate applied to the 2025 federal election, per first-preference vote. |
| 9 May 2026 | — | $3.499 | $12,379 | Rate applied to the 2026 Farrer by-election. |
| 1 July 2026 | 31 December 2026 | $3.583 | $13,098 | Current rate, indexed every six months to CPI. |
- Labor 1 payee(s) $37 million
- Liberal 1 payee(s) $28.2 million
- Greens 5 payee(s) $12.7 million
- One Nation 1 payee(s) $6.1 million
- Nationals 3 payee(s) $4 million
- Independent candidates (68) $3.3 million
- Legalise Cannabis Australia $486,222
- Gerard Rennick People First $393,029
- David Pocock $389,102
- Trumpet of Patriots $262,865
- CLP 1 payee(s) $239,522
- Family First Party Australia $203,685
- Katter's Australian 1 payee(s) $175,310
68 independent candidates shared $3,349,977.95; the largest payments went to sitting MPs (Zali Steggall $154,368, Helen Haines $151,432, Sophie Scamps $143,844). Candidates' names are public in the AEC release; we show only the total.
Funding calculator
Votes × rate,
from 4%.
- Share of the formal vote
- 10.00%
- Entitlement (votes × rate)
- $37,002
- Automatic payment
- $13,098
- Paid on a claim
- $23,904
- Total
- $37,002
Eligible: at or above 4% of 103,268 formal votes.
Annual returns · AEC Transparency Register
Receipts and payments
by party group.
- Australian Labor Party 9 returns (federal and state branches) $67.5 million $51 million
- Liberal 8 returns (federal and state branches) $63.5 million $50.4 million
- The Greens 9 returns (federal and state branches) $17.1 million $15.7 million
- The Nationals 5 returns (federal and state branches) $8.8 million $8.7 million
- Australian Citizens Party $2.3 million $2.3 million
- One Nation $2 million $2.8 million
- Country Liberal Party (NT) $1.2 million $671,987
- Animal Justice Party $1.2 million $741,013
- Libertarian Party $371,782 $570,015
- Katter's Australian Party (KAP) $355,627 $507,801
- Liberal 8 returns (federal and state branches) $205.4 million $193.8 million
- Australian Labor Party 9 returns (federal and state branches) $161.8 million $159.6 million
- Australian Federation Party $54.1 million $53.4 million
- The Greens 9 returns (federal and state branches) $36 million $40.4 million
- The Nationals 5 returns (federal and state branches) $14.3 million $19.2 million
- One Nation $3.3 million $3.3 million
- Australian Citizens Party $2.9 million $2.7 million
- Country Liberal Party (NT) $1.6 million $2.4 million
- Family First Party Australia $1.5 million $1.5 million
- Jacqui Lambie Network $1.4 million $1.4 million
- Receipts include every kind of income (donations, subscriptions, public funding, transfers between branches, loans). A party group's total adds its branches together, so money passed between branches is counted more than once.
- Only gifts above the threshold ($16,900 in 2024-25) are itemised; smaller donations are invisible.
- In 2024-25, Mineralogy Pty Ltd (Clive Palmer's company) gave about $53 million, almost all to the party registered as the Australian Federation Party, which campaigned in 2025 as Trumpet of Patriots.
Donor returns · organisations
The largest
donor organisations.
Companies, unions, associations and trusts that lodged donor returns, by the total they declared giving. Private individuals are counted but not named here; their names are public on the Transparency Register.
- Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited $1 million
- Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd $1 million
- LB Conservation Pty Ltd ATF LB Conservation Trust $660,000
- Meriton Properties Pty Ltd $590,000
- William Taylor Nominees Pty Ltd $533,333
- First Australians Capital Ltd $500,000
- Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd $500,000
- Climate 200 Pty Limited $473,222
- The Pharmacy Guild of Australia $402,911
- Minerals Council of Australia $382,465
- Keep Them Honest Pty Ltd $345,000
- Trimtab Foundation Pty Ltd $300,000
- MINERALOGY PTY LTD $53.2 million
- Coal Australia Limited $5.4 million
- Pratt Holdings Pty Ltd $3 million
- Climate 200 Pty Limited $2.7 million
- Keldoulis Investments Pty Limited $2 million
- ORYXIUM PTY LIMITED $1.8 million
- Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union - Electrical, Energy and Services Division $1.6 million
- William Taylor Nominees Pty Ltd $1.5 million
- Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd $1.1 million
- Minerals Council of Australia $1 million
- Australian Capital Equity Pty Limited $1 million
- Fairground Investments Pty Ltd ATF Fairground Trust $1 million
Data: AEC Transparency Register bulk download, fetched 6 November 2026.
From 1 January 2027 · Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025
Caps on gifts
and on spending.
- $50,000 gifts from one donor to one recipient, per calendar year
- $1.6 million gifts from one donor across all recipients, per year
- $90 million a party's national electoral expenditure cap at a general election
- $800,000 spending cap in any one House division
- $200,000 Senate campaign cap, × the state's number of divisions
- $11.3 million cap for associated entities and third parties in total
Per donor per calendar year: $50,000 to any one recipient for a federal purpose; $1.6 million (32 × the annual cap) across all recipients. Indexed from 1 January 2028. Separate caps for by-elections, Senate-only elections and state/territory branches.
Electoral expenditure caps for a general election: a party and its expenditure group, $90 million nationally, $800,000 in any House division and $200,000 × the state's number of divisions for its Senate campaign; associated entities, significant third parties and third parties, $11.25 million in total. Independents also have caps.
Donations above $5,000 disclosed within 7 days during the election period, within 24 hours (recipients) in the expedited period from the Saturday before polling day to 7 days after, and by the 21st of the next month at other times. Annual returns move to calendar years.
Transitional rules have applied since 1 July 2026; the AEC's guides set out who is covered.