Authorising state election electoral material

There have been changes to Victoria's electoral laws following recent amendments to the Electoral Act 2002. For further information, see our page about the 2026 Electoral Act amendments.

You can share your political opinions at any time. That is part of a healthy democracy.

If you are sharing electoral material, you must authorise it. We will give examples of what is and is not considered electoral material.

Authorisation requirements exist to:

  • improve transparency by making it clear where election material comes from
  • allow someone to decide how much they value or trust the electoral material.

The authorisation rules and requirements are different between state and local council elections. Learn about authorisation requirements for local council elections.

What is electoral material?

There are 3 categories of electoral material requiring authorisation:

  • Paid advertisements containing electoral matter.
  • Printed material containing electoral matter, including a leaflet, flyer, pamphlet, notice or poster.
  • Electoral material produced by or for one of the following entities, even if the material is not paid for or printed:
    • a registered political party
    • a candidate
    • a group of candidates for a Legislative Council election
    • an elected member
    • an associated entity
    • a third party campaigner
    • a donor who must submit a disclosure return to us.

When an entity produces material, authorisation is needed if the material is electoral in nature. This means it relates to:

  • voters
  • elections
  • a matter covered by the Electoral Act or its regulations.

What is electoral matter?

Electoral matter is any content that is intended, or likely, to influence how someone votes in an election.

Content will also be electoral matter if it mentions:

  • an election
  • current and former members of Parliament, including as government and opposition members
  • a political party
  • a candidate
  • an issue put to voters at the election.

To decide whether material is intended or likely to affect the way someone votes, we may look at when it is published and what it is about.

Types of electoral material

Electoral material can take any form, including:
  • a leaflet, flyer, pamphlet or notice
  • a billboard, poster or sign
  • a print, digital or online advertisement
  • a social media post or profile
  • a website
  • some electronic communications, such as email or SMS.

What is not electoral material?

Not everything is electoral material. Some material is excluded from the authorisation requirements:

  • small car stickers, lapel buttons, badges, clothing, fridge magnets, pens, pencils and balloons
  • letters or cards where the name and address of the sender or publisher appears, unless they contain a representation of a ballot paper
  • an opinion poll or other research relating to voting intentions
  • a communication for personal purposes
  • an internal communication of a registered political party, candidate or elected member
  • images of excluded items, unless transformed into electoral material
  • material made for academic, artistic, educational or satirical purposes that is not intended or likely to affect voting in an election.

Authorisation requirements for how-to-vote cards

How-to-vote cards (HTVCs) can be printed or online. They can be registered or unregistered.

All HTVCs must include:

  • the name and address of the person who authorised the card
  • the name of the printer or publisher
  • the printer's or publisher's business address.

Registered HTVCs

Registered HTVCs must also include this statement at the bottom of the card:

Registered by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

This statement must appear with the card's authorisation details.

Authorisation requirements for electoral material

Electoral material must always be authorised and clearly show a name and street address on the material.

Name requirements

The name must be the full or registered name of the person or organisation that authorised the material.

A person can use:

  • the name they are commonly known by if the public can easily identify them.
  • their first initial and surname.

These entities must authorise electoral material in the name they are recognised or registered by, under the Electoral Act:

  • registered political party
  • candidate
  • group of candidates for Legislative Council elections
  • elected member
  • associated entity
  • third-party campaigner
  • political donor who must provide a disclosure return to us.

If an entity produced electoral material before 21 August 2026, its authorisation statement does not have to include the entity’s name. It can continue to use the name of the person authorising.

The VEC encourages all entities to include their name in the authorisation statement. This helps voters see who produced the material.

Address requirements

The address must:

  • include a full street address
  • include a suburb or town name
  • not be a post office box (PO Box).

Read our determination about the authorisation of electoral material.