Foreign donors

From 1 January 2019 the Electoral Act restricts the receipt of donations from foreign donors. A foreign donor can be:

• A body politic of a foreign country, or part of such a body politic;
• A body politic of a part of a foreign country, or part of such a body politic;
• A foreign public enterprise;
• An entity (whether or not incorporated) to which none of the following conditions apply:
  • The entity is incorporated in Australia;
  • The entity’s head office is in Australia;
  • The principal place of activity of the entity is, or is in, Australia;
• An individual who is neither a Commonwealth elector, nor an Australian citizen, nor an Australian permanent resident, or a holder of Special Category Visa subclass 444.

Political parties and political campaigners must not receive donations from foreign donors for the amount or value of $1,000 or more. A foreign donor must not make gifts to a political party or political campaigner for $100 or more if the purpose is for the gift to be used for electoral expenditure or for creating or communicating electoral matter.