State government election participants

• is controlled by a registered party (or candidates endorsed by the party) or a candidate
• operates wholly or to a significant extent for the benefit of a registered political party or candidate, or
• operates for the dominant purpose of promoting a registered political party or candidate.

Ballot draw

A Returning Officer conducts a public ballot draw after the close of nominations for an election to determine the listed order of candidates on the ballot paper.

Campaign purpose

Electoral expenditure is incurred for a campaign purpose if it is used to:

• promote or oppose a registered political party in relation to an election
• promote or oppose the election of a candidate, or
• otherwise influence voting at an election.

Candidate

A person who meets any of the following criteria:

• is an elector member
• has announced or otherwise publicly indicated an intention to be a candidate in an election
• has otherwise indicated their intention to be a candidate in the election, including, for example by accepting a gift made for the purpose of an election
• has had their nomination as a candidate for an election certified by a returning officer.

Capped expenditure period

The capped expenditure period starts on:

• for the 2024 state general election – 2 April 2024
• for a by-election – the day the writ for the election is issued.

The capped expenditure period ends at 6pm on election day.

Compliance review

A review of election funding and disclosure matters by the ECQ to monitor electoral participants’ compliance with their obligations under the Electoral Act 1992. Electoral participants may be contacted up to 5 years after an election to provide information relating to a funding and disclosure matter.

EDS

Refer to the definition of the Electronic Disclosure System.

Election day

The polling day for an election. Polling places open at 8am and close at 6pm on election day. Counting of the votes commences at 6pm.

Election matter

Anything that can or intends to:

• influence an elector in relation to voting at the election, or
• affect the result of an election.

This includes all election material printed, published, distributed or broadcast, for example any advertisement, handbill, pamphlet, notice or social media post.

Election participant

Any of the following in an election: a candidate, a registered political party, an associated entity, a registered third party, or an unregistered third party that incurs electoral expenditure.

Election period

An election period for an election starts on the day after the writ for the election is issued and ends at 6pm on election day.

Election summary return

A return that must be lodged with the ECQ within 15 weeks after election day via the Electronic Disclosure System. All electoral expenditure incurred for the election must be disclosed in the election summary return. Candidates must also disclose all gifts and loans received for the election in their election summary return.

Electoral expenditure

An expense incurred, including a gift-in-kind given, for a campaign purpose, regardless of when the expense is incurred. Electoral expenditure includes:

• costs of designing, producing, printing, broadcasting, or publishing any kind of material for an election including (but not limited to):
  • advertisements broadcast at a cinema, on radio or television or on the internet
  • direct marketing through the post office or email
  • flyers, billboards, brochures, signs, or how-to-vote cards

• distribution costs for election material such as the cost of postage, couriers, or sending SMS messages
• costs of opinion polling or research
• fees for contracted services related to an activity mentioned above (e.g., payments for experts or consultants, the provision of data, etc.).

Electoral expenditure is incurred at the time when the goods or services are provided. For example, expenditure on advertising is incurred when the advertisement is broadcast, published or posted online. Expenditure on election material is incurred when the material is distributed.

A third party incurs electoral expenditure for an election if the dominant purpose for that spending is a campaign purpose.

Electoral expenditure caps

Limitations (caps) on the amount of electoral expenditure that can be incurred during the capped expenditure period for a state election.

The caps are set by legislation.

Electronic Disclosure System (EDS)  

The online portal through which election participants with disclosure obligations should lodge their real-time, periodic and post-election summary disclosure returns.

The EDS can be accessed via the ECQ website or at https://disclosures.ecq.qld.gov.au.

Endorsed candidate

A candidate for a state election who is endorsed by a registered political party.

Gift

The transfer of money, property or a service given without receiving something of equal or adequate value in return.

A non-monetary gift (or gift-in-kind) is a gift of any goods or services other than money.

A gift includes:

• money given to an election participant
• services provided at no or below cost
• electoral expenditure gifted to an election participant
• uncharged interest, or an amount forgiven, on a loan (refer below for further information)
• the part of a fundraising contribution that exceeds $200.

A gift does not include:

• property transferred under a will
• a fundraising contribution of $200 or less, or the first $200 of a larger fundraising contribution
• membership fees paid to a registered political party
• a compulsory levy imposed on councillors under their registered political party’s constitution
• an amount transferred from an individual’s own funds (e.g., from a personal bank account) to the individual’s own state campaign bank account
• an amount contributed from an account an individual holds jointly with their spouse (this does not include amounts given to the spouse by a prohibited donor) to the individual’s own state campaign bank account
• volunteer labour, or incidental or ancillary use of a volunteer’s vehicle or equipment
• gifts made in a private capacity for an individual’s personal use unless the gift is used for an electoral purpose.

Gifted electoral expenditure 

Electoral expenditure is gifted to an election participant if the following conditions are met:

1. The expenditure benefits the participant.
2. The expenditure is incurred with the authority or consent of the recipient, or the election material produced is accepted by the recipient.
3. The person who originally incurred the expenditure does not receive payment or does not invoice the participant for the amount within 7 days.

Gift-in-kind

A gift of any good or service other than money.

Gift threshold amount

The amount at which gifts and loans must be disclosed in real-time (i.e. $1,000). This may be one gift or loan or the sum of multiple gifts or loans.

Penalty unit

The fine amount for an offence under Queensland state legislation is identified as a penalty unit. Queensland's Penalties and Sentences Regulation 2014 defines the dollar value of a penalty unit and is subject to a yearly review by the State Treasurer. The penalty unit value in Queensland is $161.30 (current from 1 July 2024).

Periodic return

A return that registered political parties and associated entities are required to lodge with the ECQ on a 6-monthly basis via the Electronic Disclosure System. The total amount received, paid and owed by the registered political party or associated entity during the reporting period must be disclosed in the periodic return.

Political donation

A gift or loan made to a registered political party or candidate in a state election, which is accompanied by a donor statement.

However, a political donation includes an amount of gifted electoral expenditure, whether or not it is accompanied by a donor statement.

Political purpose

Expenditure is incurred for a political purpose if the expenditure is:

• electoral expenditure
• a gift made to or for the benefit of a registered political party or candidate in a state election
• a gift made to another person on the understanding that the person, or another person, uses the gift (directly or indirectly) for a purpose mentioned above.

Political party

An organisation whose object, or 1 of whose objects, is the promotion of the election to the Legislative Assembly of a candidate or candidates endorsed by it or by a body or organisation of which it forms a part.

Prohibited donor

A prohibited donor is any of the following:

• a property developer
• a close associate of a property developer
• an industry representative organisation, a majority of whose members are property developers.

A property developer is a corporation engaged in a business that regularly involves the making of relevant planning applications by or on behalf of the corporation:

• in connection with the residential or commercial development of land, and
• with the ultimate purpose of the sale or lease of the land for profit.

A close associate of a property developer means:

• a related body corporate of the property developer
• a director or other officer of the property developer
• a person with more than 20% of the voting power of the property developer or a related body corporate
• a spouse of a person described above
• if the corporation or a related body corporation of the corporation is a stapled entity in relation to a stapled security – the other stapled entity in relation to the stapled security
• if the corporation is a trustee, manager or responsible entity in relation to a unit trust - a person who holds more than 20% of the units in the trust
• if the corporation is a trustee, manager, or responsible entity in relation to a discretionary trust - a beneficiary of the trust.

Relevant particulars 

Each real-time return must include the relevant particulars of the gift, loan and donor. This includes, but is not limited to:

• the value of the gift or loan
• the date it was made
• the name and address of the donor
• for an unincorporated association – the name of the association and the names and addresses of the members of the executive committee (however described)
• for a trust fund or foundation – the name of the trust fund or foundation, and the names and addresses of the trustees
• the name and relevant particulars of the original source of the gift or loan (if applicable).

Returns for loans must also include the terms of the loan.

Reporting period

1 January to 30 June and 1 July to 31 December of each year.

Self Service Portal (SSP)

The ECQ’s online system for announcing or nominating as a candidate for an election, registering as a third party or accessing the Electronic Disclosure System.

The Self-Service Portal can be accessed via the ECQ website (www.ecq.qld.gov.au) or at https://selfserv.elections.qld.gov.au.

Source of a gift or loan

If someone makes a gift or loan to another person for the main purpose of enabling the recipient to make a gift or loan to a candidate or other election participant, the first person is referred to as the ‘source’ of the gift or loan.