What is a registered political party

A political party is an organisation that represents a group of people or set of ideas. Political parties work to have their members elected to parliament, so they can influence the making of laws and affect the way that the state is run.

Political parties often have branches all over Australia. Parties recruit members to these branches. Members can:

• suggest policies
• vote on who should be a candidate
• help run election campaigns.

Registration process

After we receive an application to register a political party, it can take a few months to complete the registration process.

As part of any application, a political party must provide a list of at least 500 eligible members. During the registration process, we write to members and ask them to confirm they are eligible members of the party. If we cannot confirm that 500 people are eligible members, the party will not be registered.

Find out more about applying to register a political party

Registered officers

A registered officer is someone nominated by a party to manage its administrative work, funding and political donations compliance obligations and other tasks and functions under the Electoral Act.

Administrative responsibilities include:

• nominating all endorsed candidates at a state election
• submitting Upper House group registrations at a state election
• acting as contact person for the party.