Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

If the Electoral Commission is required to pay an amount under section 298D or 298E to the agent of a party, the Electoral Commission must pay the amount:

if the party has nominated a bank account for the purposes of this section—to the credit of that account; or

otherwise—by cheque payable to the party.

An interim claim or final claim must specify the person to whom election funding is payable which may be the agent (see paragraph 298A(c)).

A bank account nominated by a party for the purposes of this section must satisfy the following conditions:

the account must be maintained by the party;

the account must be a federal account kept for the purposes of this Part;

the account name must consist of, or include:

if the account is maintained by a registered political party—the name of the party as it appears in the Register of Political Parties; or

if the account is held by a State branch of a political party, and the branch is not a registered political party—the name of the State branch.

For the purposes of this section, a cheque is taken not to be payable to a party unless:

if the party is a registered political party—the cheque is made out:

if a determination under subsection (4) is in force in relation to the name of the party—in the special abbreviation of the name of the party; or

otherwise—in the name of the party, being the name as it appears in the Register of Political Parties; or

if the party is a State branch of a political party, and the branch is not a registered political party—the cheque is made out:

if a determination under subsection (4) is in force in relation to the name of the State branch—in the special abbreviation of the name of the State branch; or

otherwise—in the name of the State branch.

The Electoral Commission may, by notice published in the Gazette, determine that a specified abbreviation of the name of a party is a special abbreviation of the name of the party for the purposes of this section.

The Electoral Commission must publish a copy of a notice under subsection (4) on the internet.

Before making a determination under subsection (4) in relation to a party, the Electoral Commission must consult the party.

To avoid doubt, if a cheque under this section is made out in the special abbreviation of the name of a party, the cheque is as valid as it would have been if it had been made out in the name of the party.

To avoid doubt, if a cheque under this section is payable to a party, this section does not prevent the Electoral Commission from dispatching the cheque to the agent of the party.

In this section: