About this policy
This policy covers donations to the Australian Democrats (Victorian Division) for Victorian state election purposes. It sits alongside the party's national Political Donations & Transparency policy and the governance documents that apply party-wide — the constitution, our conditions of use and How We Work Together.
Where Victorian law sets a stricter rule than our national policy, the stricter rule applies. Figures are the Victorian Electoral Commission's indexed amounts for 2026–27, reviewed 27 September 2026; the VEC re-indexes them each 1 July. You can check every rule in this policy against the VEC's own political donations guidance.
Our approach
Our national policy applies in Victoria: we accept donations only from people and organisations whose activities align with our values; our decisions are evidence-led, and a donation buys no influence over our policies, our positions or our votes; and we prioritise support from individuals, members and our broader community.
In Victoria, the Electoral Act 2002 (Vic) adds legally binding rules for donations made for state election purposes. This policy sets out how we meet them.
Who may donate
Only Australian citizens, Australian residents and organisations that hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) may make a political donation to the party in Victoria. Foreign donations are banned. Anonymous donations of $1,290 or more are banned. Banned donations are forfeited to the state.
Our donation form asks every donor to confirm their eligibility before any payment is taken.
Caps and small contributions
A person or organisation can give a Victorian party at most $5,190 across the current election period, 15 April to 28 November 2026 (the VEC's general cap). The party, its endorsed candidates and its elected members count as one recipient for the cap. Small amounts of $100 or less do not count towards the cap or the disclosure threshold — but it is an offence to split a donation into small contributions to get around either.
If the party is entered on the VEC's register of new entrants, a higher cap applies from the date of that registration; we will update this policy and our donation form on that day.
Our donation form refuses any single donation over the cap before payment is taken. Because the cap is cumulative across the election period, please keep your own running total; we reconcile ours from our records.
Disclosure — by us and by you
Anything from $1,290 up must be disclosed to the Victorian Electoral Commission within 21 days — by the party, and separately by you as the donor, on the VEC's public disclosure site at disclosures.vec.vic.gov.au. Several smaller donations that together reach $1,290 in a financial year must be disclosed in the same way. We remind donors of this obligation on our donation form and thank-you page.
The state campaign account
Every state-election donation must be paid into the party's registered state campaign account. Ours is the Australian Democrats Victoria State Campaign Account. Donations made through our Victorian campaign fund are paid into that account and spent only on the Victorian state election campaign.
Membership fees, affiliation fees and levies are not campaign donations and are never paid into the state campaign account. Donations made through the party's general donation form go to the Australian Democrats' national account and are not Victorian state-election donations.
Donations we will not accept
- Donations from anyone who is not an Australian citizen, an Australian resident or an ABN-holding organisation.
- Anonymous donations of $1,290 or more.
- Amounts over the general cap. Where a donation takes a donor over the cap, the excess must be disclosed and forfeited to the state — or returned to the donor where the party could not reasonably have known the running total.
- Donations that appear designed to avoid the cap or the disclosure threshold.
Records, returns and penalties
The party keeps records of every donation for at least four years and lodges an annual return with the VEC for each financial year in which it receives political donations. Breaches of these rules carry penalties of up to 300 penalty units or two years' imprisonment, and schemes to avoid the rules carry up to ten years' imprisonment.
How to donate, and who to ask
Donations to the party are made through our donate page and, for the Victorian state election campaign, through our Victorian campaign fund when it opens. Questions about this policy or a donation go to info@democrats.org.au. The VEC's own guidance for donors is at vec.vic.gov.au.