Third-Party Campaigners

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 in relation to an election. 

Am I a third-party campaigner?

If you are a third-party campaigner, you may be required to register with the Commission. 

Please use this self-assessment tool to determine whether you are a third-party campaigner that is required to be registered.

This tool is designed for individuals and organisations who are contributing, or plan to contribute to political campaigns in the 2025 State General Election.

Question 1: Are you an individual, organisation or an entity who intends to or has incurred electoral expenditure of more than $500 towards the 2025 WA State General Election campaign? 

Yes 

No

     
Question 2: Will you incur this expenditure during the 2025 State election; between 1 July 2024 and 8 March 2025? 

Yes 

No

If you answered yes to the above questions, you meet the definition of a third-party campaigner under the Electoral Act 1907 and are obliged to fulfil the following obligations for the State General Election 2025 before Thursday 13 February 2025. 

  • 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 $2,600 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 $2,600. 
  • 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 $2,600 in the same financial year, any additional contributions from that donor are to be disclosed, regardless of value. 

^Timeframe: An election period commences once the writ is issued for an election and ends at 6pm on polling day. For the 2025 State Government Election, the election period is Wednesday 5 February to Saturday 8 March 2025.

Expenditure Caps

If you are campaigning in the 2025 State election, your campaign spend must not exceed $500,000. 

The capped expenditure period commences 5 February 2025 and concludes 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 the 2025 State 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

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 or would like to subscribe to the WA State Government Election newsletter, please contact the Commission’s Funding and Disclosure team at fad@waec.wa.gov.au. 

NOTE: This tool 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 WA.