Compliance approach

Purpose

The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) maintains a Compliance and Enforcement Policy for Funding and Disclosure Obligations (the Compliance Policy), which is available on the ECQ’s website. The Compliance Policy outlines the ECQ’s compliance and enforcement activities and possible responses when working with stakeholders and the public, using collaborative and cooperative approaches to help achieve desired compliance objectives.

This Compliance Approach provides specific detail about what activities the ECQ will be conducting at each stage of an election, outlines the ECQ’s commitments when performing its compliance functions, and sets the ECQ’s expectations about how candidates and other electoral participants will conduct themselves and engage with the ECQ.

This Compliance Approach should be read in conjunction with the Compliance Policy.

The ECQ’s role

Queensland’s electoral laws are designed to ensure and reinforce the transparent and equitable conduct of elections for councils and the Queensland’s Parliament. One of the ECQ’s functions is to administer and promote compliance with the funding and disclosure provisions in the Local Government Electoral Act 2011 and the Electoral Act 1992.

An important part of delivering on these objectives is to monitor compliance with the rules and regulations which apply to local and state elections and to undertake enforcement action when necessary.

The ECQ also engages in post-election compliance reviews. These compliance reviews are informed by risk, and involve the ECQ contacting candidates, registered political parties and other stakeholders to provide information or clarification about potential issues with their election disclosures (or non-disclosures). Compliance reviews may result in warning letters, fines, or prosecutions.

The ECQ does not regulate:

any issues involving federal elections
issues involving the caretaker conventions, or the use of government or parliamentary resources during the election period
decisions of Members of Parliament or councillors and mayors made in their capacity as elected officials
the behaviour or conduct of candidates or their workers^[1]
content of political advertising (other than ensuring proper authorisation)^[2]
the placement of signs on roads, private property, etc.
complaints about corrupt conduct or misconduct of officials.

Promoting compliance and responding to non-compliance

The ECQ is committed to ensuring that all electoral participants who want to voluntarily comply are able to do so. The ECQ does this by providing reasonable assistance with the use of systems, providing direct guidance to participants, publishing educational material, and ensuring systems contain functionality to enable compliance.

The focus of the ECQ’s resources will vary depending on the election phase, as outlined below:

Focus of resources over State election phases

Election phase	Focus of resources
Before notice of election	Educating candidates (and their agents) who announce or indicate an intention to contest the state election. Engaging with registered political parties so they understand their obligations and record-keeping requirements. Processing applications for third-party registrations in a timely way and providing education once a registration is approved.
Election period (starting on the day the notice of election is issued, ending at close of polls)	Addressing notifications about failure to authorise election material. Managing notifications of non-compliance impacting the integrity of the election or transparency of election participants’ election funding. Monitoring for compliance with political donation caps (based on real-time disclosure data). Enforcing signage regulations during the voting period.
Post-election day (election summary return period)	Assisting participants to comply with their election summary return requirements. Issuing fines for failure to lodge an election summary return (after election summary return due date). Monitoring for non-compliance which can be identified through the election summary return process. Processing election funding claims and verifying against disclosure data. Undertaking audits on preselection ballots undertaken by registered political parties.
2024 election compliance review program	Checking for full and complete disclosure of electoral expenditure incurred, and gifts/loans received. Identifying incorrect use of dedicated bank accounts. Third party (donor) disclosure compliance program (prioritising large donations and frequent donors).
Entire period	Issuing fines, warning letters or commencing prosecutions (as appropriate) for non-compliance identified as a result of compliance activities.

Focus of resources over local election phases

Election phase	Focus of resources
Before notice of election	Educating candidates (and their agents) who announce or indicate an intention to contest the local elections. Processing applications for third-party registrations in a timely way and providing education once a registration is approved. Processing applications for candidate group registration.
Election period (starting on the day the notice of election is issued, ending at close of polls)	Addressing notifications about failure to authorise election material. Managing notifications of non-compliance impacting the integrity of the election or transparency of election participants’ election funding or expenditure. Monitoring for compliance with electoral expenditure caps (based on real-time disclosure data). Conducting targeted education opportunities when opportunities arise.
Post-election day (election summary return period)	Assisting candidates to comply with their election summary return requirements. Issuing fines for failure to lodge an election summary return (after election summary return due date). Prioritising compliance reviews of elected candidates. Monitoring for non-compliance which can be identified through the election summary return process.
2024 election compliance review program	Checking for full and complete disclosure of electoral expenditure incurred, and gifts/loans received. Identifying incorrect use of dedicated bank accounts. Third party (donor) disclosure compliance program (prioritising large donations and frequent donors).
Entire period	Dealing with any matter involving alleged group campaign activity, donations from property developers, or third-party campaigners. Issuing fines, warning letters, or commencing prosecutions (as appropriate) for non-compliance identified as a result of compliance activities.

During an election event, the ECQ will likely receive a large number of notifications about potential non-compliance. The issues will vary in complexity, significance, and overall impact on the integrity of the election, and must be prioritised accordingly. While all notifications about non-compliance will be reviewed, the ECQ cannot commit to resolving all reports of non-compliance before election day.

The ECQ will consider reports of non-compliance and work to resolve those deemed a priority. When reviewing reports, consideration will be given to whether the report includes appropriate evidence, such as real-time photographs and/or video (e.g. of unauthorised election material), correspondence, statutory declarations, etc. Reports of non-compliance based on conjecture or hearsay will generally not be prioritised. Reports which are complex and likely to require thorough investigation will naturally take longer to resolve, most likely after election day.

The ECQ generally treats compliance matters confidentially. Any person who reports non-compliance should not expect to be notified of the specifics of the outcome of their report (as per the Information Privacy Act 2009).

Case Studies

Case study 1 – Exceeding expenditure caps

A candidate for the 2020 state election exceeded the expenditure cap by $2,258. The ECQ identified the breach when the candidate lodged their election funding claim for the election. The ECQ deducted an amount of $4,517 from the candidate’s funding claim entitlement, being double the amount by which they exceeded the cap.

Case study 2 – Failure to use dedicated bank account

A candidate for the 2020 elections failed to use their dedicated bank account, instead using “cash in a tin” to pay for electoral expenditure. The candidate also did not disclose these transactions until contacted by the ECQ. The candidate was prosecuted, resulting in a fine of $1,200, plus the payment to the ECQ of $1,200 in legal fees.

Case study 3 – Failure to authorise election material

A third-party campaigner failed to authorise election material published on social media during the 2020 election period. The ECQ contacted the third party and sought an authorisation to be added to the materials. The third-party failed to comply with these requests and was issued a fine for each instance of publication.

Case study 4 - Failure to disclose expenditure and exceeded expenditure cap

A candidate in the 2024 local government elections failed to disclose electoral expenditure. As a result of a compliance review, these non-disclosed expenses were identified and disclosed. Once these expenses were identified, it became apparent that the candidate had exceeded the expenditure cap for their local government area.

The candidate was required to pay fines totalling $618, as well as pay the State an additional $2,570, being twice the amount by which the candidate exceeded the cap.

Case study 5 - Failure to disclose a gift-in-kind

A group of candidates received a gift-in-kind from a local business for use during the election. The in-kind gift was the supply of services for below-market rates. The business advised the group’s agent (who is responsible for completing disclosure returns) that the value of the in-kind gift was less than $500.

During a compliance review, the ECQ determined that the value of the in-kind gift was closer to $10,000. This was based on analysing the nature of the services being provided and seeking comparable market rates for similar services from other businesses.

The ECQ issued a fine to the group’s agent for failing to disclose the gift-in-kind as a donation. While the ECQ acknowledged that the agent had obtained the valuation from the business, the ECQ considered that the valuation was so unreasonable that an objective person, taking reasonable care, should have questioned the value and made a reasonable determination.

Case study 6 - Data-matching

As required by electoral law, the ECQ collected data from media organisations (publishers and broadcasters) about political advertisements they published or broadcast during the capped expenditure period.

The ECQ data-matched those returns against the disclosures of a local election candidate, and identified that at least three advertisements were published and not disclosed. Upon further investigation, it was identified that the candidate used a business account to pay for those extra advertisements, and not their election account.

The candidate received three penalty infringement notices (fines, one for each advertisement not disclosed), and a warning letter for not using their dedicated account. The ECQ will retain a record of warning letter for reference should non-compliance re-occur at a future election.

¹The ECQ has a limited remit to address issues where a person is engaging in improper practices affecting the election (e.g. obstructing a person from voting).

²The ECQ has a limited remit to address issues if advertising material is intended or likely to mislead an elector about the ways of voting (including inducing an elector to cast an informal vote), or where a person knowingly publishes a false statement of fact about the personal character or conduct of a candidate, for the purposes of affecting the election of that candidate.