Public funding for political parties

This page is under review following the passage of the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026. These new laws address political donation disclosures and political funding, auditing and reporting, including how this information is monitored and regulated by the VEC.

What is public funding?

Public funding is public money we give to eligible political parties and independent candidates. It helps repay the costs from running a state election campaign.

These costs are called:

These costs may include:

  • office space
  • staffing costs (including time spent setting up for promotions)
  • equipment (for example, IT systems, vehicles, office stationery, etc.)
  • interest charges on loans
  • utilities
  • travel
  • advertising (including production, distribution, publishing, etc.).

You cannot claim costs or expenses not related to campaigning. This means that you cannot claim general administrative costs.

You cannot claim political or electoral costs if you can get a:

  • credit
  • rebate
  • refund
  • reimbursement, or
  • tax reduction under any law.

You cannot use advance public funding payments as security for a loan.

Eligibility

You are eligible to receive public funding if your party endorsed candidates at an election and at least one candidate:

  • received at least 4% of first preference votes, or
  • was elected in a state election.

Who is not eligible for public funding

You are not eligible for public funding if:

  • you do not have any members elected to the Legislative Assembly (lower house) or the Legislative Council (upper house), or
  • none of your candidates received at least 4% of first preference votes.

How funding is paid

Public funding is paid to the registered political party, not to individual candidates or elected members.

Funding amount

The amount you can receive is based on the:

  • amount listed in your audited statement of expenditure
  • number of votes your candidates received
  • maximum legislated amounts.

There are different payment rates for Legislative Assembly candidates and Legislative Council candidates.

Funding amounts are indexed annually in line with the consumer price index.

View the current funding amounts

We publish the details of funding paid to recipients since 2018 in our Funding register.

Applying for public funding

The registered officer of the political party must apply for public funding within 20 weeks following an election, including a by-election.

The application must include:

  • A statement of expenditure report that shows the costs your party incurred during the election.
  • An audit certificate template completed by a registered company auditor in the form specified by the VEC. We will not accept any other format.

Note: we are updating the statement of expenditure and audit certificate templates. Please contact us at disclosures@vec.vic.gov.au if you have questions.

If you do not provide a statement of expenditure and audit certificate within this timeframe, you will not receive public funding.

How and when will I receive payments?

We calculate your party’s maximum entitlement based on the number of first preference votes your endorsed candidates and/or endorsed elected members receive.

If your statement of expenditure shows you spent less than your maximum entitlement, you will receive the amount shown in your statement.

If you spent equal to or more than the maximum entitlement, you will receive the maximum entitlement.

We pay public funding within 30 days of receiving your audited statement of expenditure from the previous election.

Payments must be made into your state campaign account.

Advance public funding

If you receive public funding for a state general election, you are eligible to receive the same amount of funding in advance of the following state general election.

Your registered officer must apply for advanced public funding within 20 weeks after a state general election.

Advance public funding is paid in 4 instalments:

  • 40% within 30 days of receiving your audited statement of expenditure
  • 20% in April in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of the election period.

Advance public funding must be paid into your state campaign account.

If advance public funding was paid, we will work out your final entitlement after the election.

We will base this on:

  • the number of candidates elected or received at least 4% of first preference votes
  • the number of first preference votes received by those candidates
  • whether candidates stood for the Legislative Assembly (lower house) or Legislative Council (upper house)
  • the amount of expenditure declared in the party's statement of expenditure for that election.

We then compare your entitlement to the amount of advance public funding you received and make any necessary adjustments. This includes if you:

  • were entitled to more funding than was paid in advance, we will pay the difference.
  • received more advance public funding than you were entitled to, you must repay the difference.
  • do not nominate candidates in the election for which public funding was paid in advance, you must repay the full amount of public funding received.
  • you nominate candidates for the election, but none are elected or receive at least 4% of first preference votes, you must repay the full amount of public funding received.

Banned donations and funding

If you or your candidates accept a banned political donation, your public funding will be reduced.

This includes donations:

Your funding will be reduced by twice the amount of the breach.

For example, if you receive a donation from a foreign donor of $1,000 we will reduce your funding amount by $2,000. You must also give up the original donation of $1,000 to the VEC.

Penalties

There is a penalty of 300 penalty units or 2 years' imprisonment for making a false or misleading statement to the VEC.