This background note provides an overview of the regulation of political financing at the Commonwealth level including election expenditure. It also gives an account of the various political financing reforms that have been implemented or proposed at the national level since the 1980s. The funding of political activity and structures—from holding elections to assisting political...

Ian McAllister, Distinguished Professor of Political Science at ANU and a former Director of ANU’s Research School of Social Sciences, discusses the Australian Election Study (AES) and its implications for the ALP. The AES has surveyed Australian public opinion on politics following each federal election since 1987. It has asked about electoral institutions, party loyalties...

This paper gives an overview of each state or territory political financing regime, followed by an account of the monitoring and disclosure provisions for political expenditure and donations. The funding of elections and other formally structured political activity is a crucial consideration for modern democracies. It is not simply a question of how to manage...

This paper provides an overview of the main features of the lead-up to the 2010 federal election, the issues that animated the election campaign itself, and the emergence of a hung parliament. Key findings: The 2010 Federal election occurred in the wake of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party’s decision to remove Prime Minister Kevin Rudd...

While a large battle looms once again for the APL leadership, this paper provides an insider's view of a more orderly, though no less intense, ALP contest and Andrew Leigh's eventual preselection for the Canberra seat of Fraser. Fear and loathing on ANZAC eve? For eight aspiring Federal politicians and 241 ALP Members 24 April...