Prohibited donor investigation outcomes
The Electoral Act 1992 (the Act) bans some potential donors from giving gifts to ACT political entities. The Act also bans ACT political entities from accepting gifts from prohibited donors.
Political entities include:
- party groupings
- non-party candidate and non-party prospective candidate groupings
- non-party MLAs
- associated entities.
Prohibited donors include:
- property developers and their close associates
- foreign entities
- people working on behalf of these entities.
Read about prohibited donors.
Elections ACT conducts regular compliance investigations into donations received by ACT political entities.
These investigations aim to:
- maintain the integrity of the ACT’s funding and disclosure scheme
- assure the ACT community that political entities are not receiving gifts from prohibited donors.
Investigation scope
The scope of the prohibited donor compliance investigations is to determine whether:
- any gifts, of any amount, were made by a prohibited donor, whether they were accepted by the political entity or not
- any gifts from a prohibited donor were accepted by a political entity and when.
If gifts were accepted from a prohibited donor, whether:
- they were deposited into a designated federal election account, and when
- any funds from that account were used for anything other than a federal election
- any funds from that account were moved into any other account held by the entity.
If the gift wasn't money, whether:
- it was specifically set aside for use in a federal election
- any proceeds from the gift were deposited into a federal election account
- any proceeds from the gift in that account were moved into any other account held by the entity.
- the gift or its proceeds were used for a purpose other than a federal election.
Each donor assessed as part of a compliance investigation is assessed against definitions for prohibited donors.
For comprehensive definitions of prohibited donors, view the Prohibited donors factsheet.
Investigation outcomes
The following outcomes reflect investigations since:
- Property developers and close associates were designated as prohibited donors in 2021
- Foreign entities were designated as prohibited donors in 2023.
May 2026
Compliance investigation period: 1 October 2025 – 7 April 2026
Scope: 121 donations from 28 distinct donors
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Two corporate entities.
- Twenty three associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
- Zero potential foreign entities identified in donor sample
October 2025
Compliance investigation period: 1 April 2025 – 30 September 2025
Scope: 224 donations from 65 distinct donors
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Five corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on the four of these entities.
- Fifteen associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Two potential close associates identified in donor sample (investigations ongoing)
- Zero potential foreign entities identified in donor sample
May 2025
Compliance investigation period: 1 July 2024 – 31 March 2025
Scope: 692 donations from 155 distinct donors
Sample: 26 donors including:
- Five corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on the three of these entities.
- Sixty associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Four potential close associates identified in donor sample (investigations ongoing)
- Zero potential foreign entities identified in donor sample
November 2024
Compliance investigation period: 22 July 2024 – 7 November 2024.
Scope: 171 donations from 70 distinct donors.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Five corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on two of these entities
- Twenty associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
- Zero potential foreign entities identified in donor sample
July 2024
Compliance investigation period: 1 July 2023 – 22 July 2024.
Scope: 1,195 donations from 238 distinct donors.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Eight corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on six of these entities
- Thirty associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
November 2023
Compliance investigation period: 1 May 2023 – 9 October 2023.
Scope: 458 donations from 114 distinct donors.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Seven corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on 6 of these entities
- Fifty-one associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
May 2023
Compliance investigation period: 1 October 2022 to 8 May 2023.
Scope: 199 donations from 36 distinct donors. The remaining 11 donors were reviewed in the previous 18 months.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Six corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on 5 of these entities
- Twenty-nine associated individuals.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- One potential close associate identified in donor sample
There was an additional investigation for the potential close associate of a property developer. It concluded it highly unlikely the individual is a property developer or a close associate of a property developer. The investigation did not identify a breach.
November 2022
Compliance investigation period: 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022.
Scope: 192 donations from 85 distinct donors. The remaining 11 donors were reviewed in the previous 18 months.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Three corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on all 3.
- Twenty-three individual donors
- One individual for review as a close associate.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
April 2022
Compliance investigation period: 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.
Scope: 189 donations from 51 distinct donors. The remaining 11 donors were reviewed in the previous 18 months.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Two corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on both.
- Twenty-three individual donors
- One individual for review as a close associate.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
- Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample
November 2021
This reflects a transition period before the full commencement of the legislation and offences
Compliance investigation period: 18 October 2020 to 30 June 2021 and 1 July 2021 to 30 September 2021.
Scope: 302 donations from 69 distinct donors. The remaining 11 donors were reviewed in the previous 18 months.
Sample: 25 donors including:
- Three corporate entities. An ASIC search was conducted on all 3.
- Twenty-two individual donors
- Eight individuals for review as close associates.
Results:
- Zero potential property developers identified in donor sample
Zero potential close associates identified in donor sample