Funding register

Administrative expenditure funding is public money paid to independent elected members and registered political parties with elected members. It can be used to cover the general running costs of the office of a party or an independent member of Parliament.

For more information on what administrative expenditure funding can be used for, see Determination No.7 – Claimable administrative expenditure.

Maximum entitlement limits

Each independent member of Parliament has the same maximum entitlement each year, while the amount that registered political parties receive is based on the number of elected members endorsed by the party in the Parliament.

For more information on current and past entitlement amounts, see Yearly indexation of funding and donation thresholds.

Timing of payments

Payments are made quarterly in advance. After the end of each calendar year, each recipient must submit an audited return to us that describes their claimable expenditure.

Recovering excess payments

If the amount of funding distributed for any calendar year is more than the expenditure incurred, we will recover the excess.

We will usually do this by reducing the next quarterly payment, but in some circumstances we may use other methods (such as issuing an invoice).

For these reasons, the net amount of funding published in the funding register may change over time.

More information

For more information about administrative expenditure funding as it applies to different political groups, visit:

• Administrative expenditure funding information for registered political parties
• Funding for independent elected members.

Public funding is public money paid to eligible registered political parties and independent candidates.

A recipient of public funding cannot make a profit from public money, and will not receive more funding than they have spent on political and electoral expenditure in relation to an election.

Maximum entitlement limit

The amount of public funding payable is based on the number of first preference votes each candidate received at the previous State election. If a candidate spent less than their entitlement on political and electoral expenditure, they will only be paid the amount they spent.

For more information about calculating entitlements and how these amounts are indexed, see Yearly indexation of funding and donation thresholds.

Candidates do not automatically receive this funding – they must apply for it within the statutory period set out in the Act and provide an audited statement of expenditure.

Recipients may choose to receive public funding in advance of the next State election, but we won’t know the exact entitlement amount until the votes have been counted.

To address this, we pay an amount based on the number of first preference votes received in the last State election and, once the votes have been counted for the next State election, we calculate the exact amount they are entitled to.

If they received more votes than they did in the last election, they may receive an additional payment from us to make up the difference.

If they received fewer votes than they did in the last election, they will need to repay some, or all, of the funding they received in advance from their next instalment.

If someone has received advance public funding but chooses not to stand for the next election, they must repay all the public funding they received in advance of that election.

For these reasons, the net amount of funding published in the funding register may change over time.

Timing of payments

Recipients can apply to receive public funding in advance for the next election. When this happens, we pay the funding in 4 instalments:

Instalment	% of entitlement	Date paid
1	40%	Paid within 30 days of receipt of application
2	20%	April, 2nd year after election
3	20%	April, 3rd year after election
4	20%	April, 4th year after election

More information

For more information about public funding, visit:

• Public funding for Registered Political Parties
• Funding for independent candidates.

Policy development funding is public money used to reimburse eligible registered political parties for costs relating to policy development.

Maximum entitlement limit

Each year, eligible parties are entitled to an amount that is based on the number of first preference votes they received at the previous State election.

To receive a payment, recipients must meet certain eligibility criteria and submit an application to us.

We will pay the lower of either the entitlement amount or the amount in the audited statement of expenditure.

For these reasons, the net amount of funding published in the funding register may change over time.

More information

For more information about policy development funding, including application and eligibility requirements, see policy development funding.

For more information about calculating entitlements and how these amounts are indexed, see indexation.