A third-party campaigner is any individual, organisation or other entity that is not a registered political party, associated entity, candidate, Legislative Council Group or Member of Parliament, who:
• receives a gift for a political purpose; or
• incurs electoral expenditure of $500 or more in relation to an election.
If you meet either of the above criteria, you meet the definition of a third-party campaigner and are obliged to fulfil the following obligations:
- Register as a third-party campaigner using the Application Form.
- Appoint an agent using the Notice of Appointment Form.
- Establish a State Campaign Account and complete the State Campaign Account Details Form.
- Register to use the Online Disclosure System by sending a request to: fad@waec.wa.gov.au.
- Disclose any gifts received for a political purpose over $2,700 via the Online Disclosure System within the required timeframe.
- Disclose any cumulative gifts if received from the same donor in the same financial year and the combined total is more than $2,700.
- Two different periods apply for disclosing gifts:
- Non-election period – disclose within seven days of receiving a political contribution.
- During an election period – disclose by the end of the next business day after receiving a political contribution.
NOTE: If a donor has provided political contributions of more than $2,700 in the same financial year, any additional contributions from that donor are to be disclosed, regardless of value.
Expenditure Caps
If you are campaigning in a State election, your campaign spend must not exceed the expenditure cap for that financial year. At the 2025 State general election the expenditure cap was $500,000.
The capped expenditure period for the 2025 State general election commenced 5 February 2025 and concluded 6pm on 8 March 2025.
NOTE: Any expenditure paid for before the capped expenditure period will still count towards the cap if it is for goods or services that will be used during the capped expenditure period for an election.
Examples of electoral expenditure:
- Advertisements on radio, tv and newspaper
- Mailouts and letterbox drops to households
- Fees paid to consultants or advertising agents for political purposes
- Polling and research
Helpful links
To assist Third-party campaigners to meet their obligations under the Electoral Act, please refer to: User Guideline 5 - Third-party campaigners
The following are some more useful guides
- User Guideline 2a - Political Contributions
- User Guideline 2b - How to disclose a Political Contribution
- User Guideline 4 - Electoral Expenditure
Visit our Forms and Guides page for the full range of forms and guides.
View the list of Registered Third-Party Campaigners.
If you have any questions, please contact the Commission’s Funding and Disclosure team at fad@waec.wa.gov.au.
NOTE: This serves as a guide to help you determine if you should register as a third-party campaigner with the Commission. However, it remains the responsibility of individuals and organisations to verify their status under the legislation and to stay informed about the requirements and obligations of third-party electoral participants in Western Australia.