Political parties in Australia are partially publicly funded, to reduce the influence of private money upon elections, and subsequently, the influence of private money upon the shaping of public policy. After each election, the Australian Electoral Commission distributes a set amount of money to each political party, per vote received. For example, after the 2013 election, political parties and candidates received $58.1 million in election funding. The Liberal Party received $23.9 million in public funds, as part of the Coalition total of $27.2 million, while the Labor Party received $20.8 million.
In Australia, the majority of private political donations come in the form of donations from corporations, which go towards the funding of the parties' election advertising campaigns. Donations and affiliation fees from trade unions also play a big role, and to a lesser extent donations from individuals. Donations occasionally take the form of non-cash donations, referred to as gifts-in-kind.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) monitors donations to political parties, and publishes a yearly list of political donors. In practice, it is not difficult for donors to make undisclosed donations to political parties in Australia;The Age, Payments, power and our politicians for example, donors can sometimes hide their identities behind associated entities.
In 2025 the Albanese Government introduced a series of reforms, taking effect from 1 July 2026 . These include caps on campaign spending and political donations, increased public funding, a lower disclosure threshold and faster disclosure requirements. The reforms were not in effect for the 2025 election but will affect the next election.
On 1 July 2025, the state of South Australia became the first place in the world to ban most political donations, implementing in its place a system of public funding.
Corporate political donations Between the years 1995–1998, corporations donated $29 million to Australian political parties. The largest corporate donor during this period was Westpac. By the year 2002–2003, the amount of corporate funding to Australian political parties had risen to $69.4 million. In 2004–2005, the Labor Party raised $64.8 million from both the corporate sector and public funding, while the Liberal Party raised over $66 million. Most of the large corporate donors conduct business in an area greatly affected by government policy, or are likely to benefit from government contracts.
Corporate fundraising In Australia, there is a growing trend for MPs to become directly involved in the corporate fundraising efforts of their parties. Ministers and staff are enlisted to engage with donors and business supporters, with the aim of raising funds for their political parties. It is known for business leaders to pay $1,400 to get near a federal minister.
When political parties lodge their return to the AEC, they are not required to identify the corporations which attended party fundraising events. This allows companies to deny they are political donors.
Other corporate funding Corporations may contribute to political funding in a variety of ways. For example, they may pay a corporate fee to attend party conferences.Speech by Senator Williams (National Party): Hansard, 3 March 2016, p.1816.
Individual donations The UK's Michael Ashcroft become a significant figure in Australian politics, having been identified as the single largest individual donor to any Australian political party during the 2004–05 financial year. The Australian Electoral Commission reported in February 2006 that Ashcroft (who gave his address as "House of Lords, Westminster, London") had donated $1 million to the Liberal Party in September 2004, shortly before the 2004 federal election. It was, at the time, the biggest single private donation in Australian political history.
In 2010, Graeme Wood gave a political donation of A$1.6 million to the Greens.
Trade union political funding The Australian Labor Party is the main beneficiary of trade union affiliation fees, special levies and donations. The Labor Party received $49.68 million from trade unions in 2004/05. Critics have accused the unions of buying seats at ALP state conferences. In 2001/02, money from trade unions amounted to 11.85% of the Labor Party's income.
In the 2013 Election, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union CFMEU donated $50,000 to the Greens party in the ACT.
In the leadup to the 2018 Victorian Election the Electrical Trades Union of Australia donated $50,000 towards the Victorian Socialists.
In November 2019, the ETU ceased donations to the federal Labor party over Anthony Albanese's Federal Labor Opposition supporting free trade agreements.
Gun lobby political donations A 2019 report revealed that Katter's Australian Party has taken more than $808,760 from pro-gun groups during the 2011–2018 period. The party received the most disclosed pro-gun donations of all Australian political parties.
The same report found that the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party had received approximately $700,000 in political donations from pro-gun groups, and that the Liberal Democratic Party (Australia) had received political donations of $37,311 from pro-gun groups between July 2011 and March 2019.
Public funding for political parties In 1984, the Hawke government introduced public funding for political parties, with the intention that it would reduce the parties' reliance on corporate donations. To be eligible for public funding a political party needs to be registered with the Australian Electoral Commission under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. A candidate or Senate group is eligible for election funding if they obtain at least 4% of the first preference vote in the division or the state or territory they contested.
The amount payable is calculated by multiplying the number of first preference (i.e., primary) votes received by the rate of payment applicable at the time. The rate is indexed every six months in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index. At the time of the 1984 election the rate was 61.2cents for the House of Representatives and 30.6cents for the Senate. That amount was based on the cost of a standard 30¢ postage stamp per elector per year.Sydney Morning Herald: Australian politics 101: take the money and run By the 1996 election, the rate was set at $1.58 per vote for both Houses. By the 2013 election the rate was $2.49. At 1 January 2014 the rate was $2.52 per vote. By the 2016 election, the election funding rate from 1 July 2016 to 31 December 2016 was $2.62784 per eligible vote.AEC: Current funding rate
As a result of the 2013 election, political parties and candidates received $58.1 million in election funding. The Liberal Party received $23.9 million in public funds, as part of the Coalition total of $27.2 million, while the Labor Party received $20.8 million. When public funding was introduced in 1984, the amount paid was $12 million. For the 1996 election, the total public funding had increased to $32.2million, and was $41.9million for the 2004 election. In 2016, $62.7million was distributed.Election Funding Payments: 2016 Federal Election New rules for the 2019 election include that parties need to provide evidence of electoral spending to the AEC, and their potential public funding is capped in relation to their electoral spending: they cannot receive more public funding than they spent.
In February 2025, Parliament passed the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025 which lowered the disclosure threshold to $5,000, introduced real-time disclosures of donations, the new act also increased the amount election funding from $3.427 to $5 at an indexed rate.
Disclosure of political donations At the time of introducing public funding for political parties in 1984, the Hawke government also introduced a requirement for public disclosure of political donations. The threshold amount was set at $1,500. The disclosure scheme was introduced to increase overall transparency and inform the public about the financial dealings of political parties, candidates and others involved in the electoral process.AEC: Financial disclosure
In May 2006, the Howard government increased the disclosure threshold to $10,000, which is then increased six-monthly by the consumer price index. Critics of the change claimed the new law would increase the chances of corruption, by making political donations harder to track, and by making conflicts of interest harder to detect. The change allowed corporations to secretly donate up to $90,000 spread across the national and the eight state/territory branches of political parties without public disclosure of that funding. In 2007, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library estimated this disclosure change will increase the number of non-disclosed political donations from 25% to 36%.
Since 2006, the donations limit has increased by $200 or $300 each year so that by 2014 the threshold was $12,400, and $13,200 for 2016/17 (and applicable to the 2016 federal election).AEC: Disclosure threshold This meant that in 2014 up to $111,600 could be donated to a political party from a donor without disclosure, if donations are spread across the national and the eight state/territory branches.
In February 2017, then-Prime Minister Turnbull confirmed he had personally donated $1.75 million to the Liberal Party's election campaign for the 2016 federal election.Turnbull admits donating $1.75 million to election campaign ABC News 1 February 2017
Another way of getting around the donation disclosure limits is for donations to be channelled through more than one entity or individuals.
Tax deductibility Until 2006, $100 of political donations could be claimed as a tax deduction for income tax purposes. In 2006, the Howard government increased the deductible amount to $1,500. The disclosure rules for political parties require them to characterise receipts as either "donations" or "other receipts". Most receipts are in fact marked as "other receipts", indicating that they have been structured in such a way as not to be treated as a political donation, which is subject to the tax deductibility limit. Such a device may, for example, be an exorbitantly priced lunch or dinner, or structured as a business meeting with a minister, or it may be an expensive advertisement in an association's magazine. The profits of the entity providing such "services" then flow to the associated political party.
Associated entities Despite the AEC publishing a yearly list of political donors, it is often difficult to ascertain who made the donation, as political parties sometimes use associated entities as front organisations to hide the source of donations.
Front organisations provide individuals and corporations a means of passing funds to the major parties anonymously or to avoid the tax deductibility limits of political donations. The Cormack Foundation is one such an organisation which raises funds for the Liberal Party, while John Curtin House Limited does the same for the Labor Party. Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, these organisations are not required to disclose where its funds come from. Associated entities have become major conduits for political donations in Australia, in 2003–2004 donating $72.6 million to political parties.