Campaigning

Campaigners are a familiar sight outside voting centres. They might distribute how-to-vote cards and engage with voters as they go to cast their vote. Campaigners are often:

  • volunteer supporters
  • party officials
  • lobbyists
  • members of interest groups
  • a candidate’s family member or friend
  • a candidate themselves.

You can campaign at any time, even before the official start of a state election period. However, there are important things all campaigners need to understand before the voting period begins. These include:

  • what campaigners can expect at election venues
  • expected standards of campaigner behaviour
  • prohibited actions while canvassing
  • safety considerations and how to plan ahead
  • escalation pathways at VEC-operated venues. 

It's each campaigner’s responsibility to be informed about canvassing and signage rules at election venues. Please also note that all non-electoral laws still apply, such as defamation laws.

Our new campaigner handbook will be available shortly. It contains detailed information to help you prepare to campaign.

Quick guide for campaigners

To prepare for the voting period, you should: 

  1. Read the Campaigner handbook and this webpage before the voting period.
  2. Understand the canvassing and signage rules which apply within the 6 metre, 100 metre and 400 metre zones from election venues.
  3. Only distribute/hand out authorised electoral material. 
  4. Follow all relevant legal requirements.
  5. Prepare for campaigning. Bring your own food, drinks and appropriate clothing (like a hat or coat).
  6. Be responsible for your own needs. Access to toilets, shelter and shade at venues is not guaranteed.
  7. Attend the campaigner briefings held by VEC officials at voting venues. If you can’t make this session, ask an official if you have any questions.
  8. Be careful not to block voters’ access to the venue.
  9. Be alert near carparks, roads, kerbs and steps.
  10. Remove all your signs, stakes, ties, tape and rubbish and take them with you when you leave.

Expected campaigner behaviour

Fair, free and safe access for all election participants is essential. 

We expect all participants to treat each other with courtesy, respect and civility when campaigning outside voting centres. It’s a shared responsibility among all participants and election officials to build and maintain these relationships.

Recommendations for campaigners by campaigners

As part of a facilitated consultation workshop conducted in May 2026, members of registered political parties developed a voluntary set of guidelines for acceptable campaigner behaviour.

This group made 7 recommendations committing to:

  • respecting voters’ rights
  • respecting the role and views of all campaigners
  • respecting the duties and role of VEC staff
  • understanding legal obligations and accepting accountability
  • rejecting threatening and intimidating behaviour
  • considering campaigner numbers at voting centres
  • fostering a positive experience for all

The full list of recommendations is in the campaigner handbook.

Authorisation of electoral material

All election material must be authorised. Learn about authorisation requirements for state elections

How-to-vote cards (digital or printed, registered or unregistered) are regulated separately and have different requirements. They must contain the name and address of the person who authorised the HTVC, as well as the name and address of the printer or publisher.

Read more about how-to-vote cards

Voting centre signage limits

There is a limit on the size and number of signs candidates and registered political parties can display within 100 metres of the designated entrance to a voting centre.

No other signs related to the election may be displayed in this zone, other than official VEC signs. Interest groups are not permitted to display signs within 100 metres of the designated entrance.

Size limit

Signs must not be bigger than 600 mm x 900 mm.

Quantity limits

Independent candidates cannot have more than 2 signs.

Registered political parties can have up to:

  • 2 signs for an endorsed Legislative Assembly (lower house) district election candidate
  • 2 signs in total between all endorsed Legislative Council (upper house) region election candidates
  • 2 signs for the political party.

It’s up to each candidate or registered political party to decide how their signs are used. For example, the contents may be the same across all signs.

Regulating signs

An election manager or election official can remove a sign that does not meet the rules. They will try to contact the person responsible and ask them to remove it. If we cannot reach this contact person, voting centre staff may remove the signs themselves. 

Mobile billboards are not allowed within 100 metres of the designated entrance to a voting centre or early voting centre. A mobile billboard includes:

  • vinyl-wrapped or painted vehicles
  • signs that can be worn by a person or attached to a vehicle.

We cannot regulate the number, placement or size of signs beyond 100 metres of a voting centre. You can check:

More information

For more information, you can: