What counts as electoral expenditure, and what can I use donated money for in an election campaign?

In Plain English

Electoral expenditure is basically any money spent to influence an election. This includes things like ads, campaign staff, office costs, and even travel for candidates. There are limits on how much you can spend, and these limits can vary depending on whether the expenditure is targeted to a specific area or not.

Donated money can be used for "federal purposes", which includes electoral expenditure. However, there are rules about how this money is handled. It generally needs to be kept in a separate "federal account" and used only for federal election-related activities.

Detailed Explanation

Electoral expenditure is defined broadly as expenditure incurred for the dominant purpose of creating or communicating electoral matter (Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025, Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918). This includes expenditure on:

The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025 also specifies that expenditure is electoral expenditure if it is incurred in relation to an election.

The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2020 outlines how donations can be used. Money received as a gift can be used for "federal purposes" if it is deposited into a "federal account" and is not transferred or withdrawn except to be used for federal purposes or transferred to another federal account.

Keep in mind that there are expenditure caps (Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025) and disclosure obligations (Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Funding and Disclosure Reform) Act 2018, Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918) related to electoral expenditure and donations.