On 3 May, Australians will head to the polls to elect the next government.
In the lead-up, TDA is cutting through the noise to help you understand the big election issues.
Right now, election ads are everywhere. If you look closely, you’ll see each one is authorised. Every piece of paid political communication during an election must be officially authorised. So does that mean they have to be true?
The answer is no. Here’s why.
Authorisation
Paid political content published during an election is legally required to contain an authorisation.
The authorisation clarifies who created the content, and informs voters that it may influence their vote.
The AEC says the authorisation process exists so political ads are transparent, accountable, and traceable.
However, while ads need to contain authorisation, they don’t need to be accurate.
The AEC says: “A federal election is a contest of ideas and it is the role of each voter to take the time to consider if the information is reliable, current, [and] safe”.
It means political advertising is not covered by the same rules that apply to commercial ads. Companies can be penalised for misleading customers, but political parties cannot be penalised for misleading voters.
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Changes
There have been efforts to change this. In 2023, a parliamentary committee recommended empowering the AEC to enforce truth standards in political advertisements.
In November 2024, the Labor Government introduced a bill that would have penalised the creation of “inaccurate and misleading” electoral material, including deepfakes.
Neither of these proposals progressed.
Some independent MPs have said truth in political advertising could become a negotiating issue if there is a hung parliament. This occurs when neither major party wins enough seats to form government on its own.
In that scenario, independents can give parties their support in exchange for passing policies.
Independent experts have also called for changes to the system. Ahead of the 2022 election, The Australia Institute said the rules risk a “free-fall of fake news”. The Grattan Institute said it “hurts the democratic process”.
Who pays?
Political parties raise money to pay for their own advertising, and there are no limits on how much they can spend.
However, taxpayers pay for political ads too. After the election, the AEC – a Government body – reimburses any candidate or party who gets at least 4% of votes for money they spent on the campaign.
The more votes you get, the more taxpayer money you receive.
