Incurring electoral expenditure

Incurring electoral expenditure

The term electoral expenditure has a specific meaning for state elections – it's incurred for a campaign purpose and can include the cost of expenses like:

• billboards and signs
• advertisements broadcast on radio or television, at a cinema, or on the internet
• opinion polling or research.

This is not an exhaustive list – associated entities should read the ECQ’s fact sheets and handbook for more detailed information about what is and is not electoral expenditure, as not all campaign expenses will be considered electoral expenditure.

All electoral expenditure incurred by an associated entity towards a campaign must be paid for from the state campaign account of the registered political party or candidate with which they are associated.

Financial controllers of associated entities must also record and disclose all electoral expenditure in an election summary return within 15 weeks after the election. ​This includes all electoral expenditure whether it was incurred during a capped expenditure period or not.

There are caps on the amount of electoral expenditure that can be incurred during the capped expenditure period (refer to the Electoral expenditure caps tab).

Links to further information:

• State fact sheet 7 – Definition of electoral expenditure
• State fact sheet 8 – Disclosure of electoral expenditure and election summary returns
• Video - Incurring electoral expenditure
• Video - When is electoral expenditure incurred
• Election summary return template (state)