Who funds the parties
Every dollar Australian political parties reported receiving in 2024-25 — how much came from the public purse, how much from a named private source, and how much cannot be traced to any source.
The AEC publishes annual returns on the first working day of February. This page is the 2024-25 file, retrieved 26 August 2026. The next annual release is February 2027. Real-time reporting began on 1 July 2026; it is not in this dataset yet.
Parties reported $490,037,207 in total receipts. Of that, $143.2M came from electoral commissions and government agencies — taxpayer money, not donations. The remainder arrived in amounts below the disclosure threshold of $16,900, so no source had to be named.
Where each party’s money comes from
Each bar is one party’s total income, broken into its sources. Open a party for the named-source list.
- Liberal8 branches combined$205.4M36% private28% public37% untraceableNamed sources →
- Australian Labor Party9 branches combined$161.8M35% private42% public23% untraceableNamed sources →
- Australian Federation Party$54.1M100% private0% public0% untraceableNamed sources →
- The Greens9 branches combined$36.0M26% private34% public40% untraceableNamed sources →
- The Nationals5 branches combined$14.3M40% private29% public31% untraceableNamed sources →
- One Nation$3.3M19% private2% public79% untraceableNamed sources →
- Australian Citizens Party$2.9M7% private0% public93% untraceableNamed sources →
- Country Liberal Party (NT)$1.6M44% private0% public56% untraceableNamed sources →
- Family First Party Australia$1.5M14% private0% public86% untraceableNamed sources →
- Jacqui Lambie Network$1.4M15% private0% public85% untraceableNamed sources →
- Animal Justice Party$1.2M3% private56% public41% untraceableNamed sources →
- Legalise Cannabis Australia$1.0M69% private0% public31% untraceableNamed sources →
Named sources by industry
The AEC does not classify donors by industry. Names are grouped here only where the registered name identifies one — a wagering operator, a union, a miner, a bank. A company whose trade is not in the name is not classified. Associated entities file their own returns and are not in these totals.
| Group | Total | Went to |
|---|---|---|
| Gambling | $321k | Australian Labor Party, Liberal |
| Unions | $16.3M | Australian Labor Party, The Greens +2 more |
| Mining and resources | $55.3M | Australian Federation Party, Liberal +2 more |
| Banks and wealth managers | $13.4M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +2 more |
| Party transfers and related | $39.2M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +3 more |
| Not classified | $78.2M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +14 more |
Largest private sources
Named non-government sources giving the most across all parties in 2024-25. Some entries are a party’s own investment vehicle or a transfer between its branches — the register records those the same way as an outside donation.
| Source | Total | Went to |
|---|---|---|
| Mineralogy Pty Ltd | $54.1M | Australian Federation Party |
| Liberal Party of Australia | $8.7M | Liberal |
| LGT Crestone Wealth Management Limited | $5.6M | Liberal |
| Pam Wall | $5.2M | Liberal |
| Cormack Foundation Pty Ltd | $4.7M | Liberal |
| Labor Holdings Pty Ltd | $4.3M | Australian Labor Party |
| Westpac Banking Corporation | $3.8M | Australian Labor Party, The Nationals +1 more |
| Liberal Party of Australia - Federal Secretariat | $3.4M | Liberal |
| 281 Sandgate Road Properties Pty Ltd | $3.4M | Liberal |
| Mining and Energy Union | $3.3M | Australian Labor Party |
| Vapold Pty Ltd | $2.6M | Liberal |
| Pratt Holdings | $2.3M | Australian Labor Party, Liberal |
| Australian Greens | $2.2M | The Greens |
| United Workers Union | $2.2M | Australian Labor Party |
| Darren Zanow Pty Ltd | $2.0M | Liberal |
Public funding
Electoral commissions pay parties per first-preference vote. This is taxpayer money, so it is listed separately from donations rather than ranked alongside them.
| Source | Total | Went to |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Electoral Commission | $67.6M | Australian Labor Party, Liberal +2 more |
| Electoral Commission of Queensland | $22.4M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +2 more |
| NSW Electoral Commission | $14.1M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +4 more |
| Victorian Electoral Commission | $11.3M | Australian Labor Party, Liberal +3 more |
| Australian Taxation Office | $10.5M | Australian Labor Party, Liberal +2 more |
| Western Australian Electoral Commission | $8.8M | Australian Labor Party, Liberal |
| Department of Finance | $4.3M | Liberal, Australian Labor Party +2 more |
| ACT Electoral Commission | $1.7M | Australian Labor Party, The Greens |
How to read these numbers
- Branches of the same party are consolidated, because the disclosure threshold applies per branch — a donor can give just under it to each of a party's branches separately. Transfers between a party's own branches are themselves disclosed receipts, so the attributable figure is an upper bound.
- Most disclosed money is classified "Other Receipt", not "Donation". That category includes public election funding, investment income and fundraising proceeds. Receipt types are reported separately rather than lumped together as donations.
- Only political party returns are counted. Associated entities, significant third parties and political campaigners file separately and are excluded, so this understates the total money in the system.
- Source names in the register are not standardised — the same body can appear several ways. Known variants are consolidated, so figures here may be larger than the register shows for any single spelling.
- Industry groups are read from the registered name, not from an AEC field. A name that does not identify a trade is not classified.
- The disclosure threshold falls to $5,000 on 1 January 2027, and real-time reporting began on 1 July 2026. Both should shrink the untraceable share in future years — this page will show whether they do.
Source: Australian Electoral Commission Transparency Register, retrieved 26 August 2026. Australian Electoral Commission, Transparency Register (Commonwealth of Australia). Annual disclosure returns are published on the first working day of February each year.