Political donation caps

Queensland’s electoral laws impose limitations (caps) on the amount of political donations that can be made to, or received by, registered political parties or state election candidates.

Not all gifts or loans are political donations. Caps only apply to political donations.

A political donation is any gift or loan given to a registered political party or state candidate that is accompanied by a donor statement (see Fact sheet 5 for more information).

Gifts or loans not accompanied by a donor statement may not be deposited into a state campaign bank account and cannot be used to incur electoral expenditure for a state election.

The political donation caps were adjusted for inflation on 26 November 2024 (see the Notice of political donation and electoral expenditure caps for more details).

Between 26 November 2024 and 27 November 2028, the political donation caps are:

$7,200 for an independent candidate
$7,200 collectively for candidates endorsed by the same registered political party.

A political donation must not exceed the cap either by itself or when added to other political donations made by the same donor during the same donation cap period.

If a candidate contests a by-election, the donation cap period ends 30 days after election day for the by-election. A new donation cap period for that candidate then starts immediately and ends 30 days after the next election contested by the candidate.

Political donations are subject to the same disclosure requirements as other gifts and loans.

Links to further information: