Hand 2 · The one who authorised or arranged for the printing
Authorised by, printed by, on an election flyer
A flyer that is electoral material carries lines other flyers do not: who authorised it, and who printed it. Three rulebooks ask for them in three different ways.
General information about Australian law, not legal advice. The body to ask is the electoral commission that runs the election: the NSW Electoral Commission registers electoral material in New South Wales, and the Victorian Electoral Commission registers how-to-vote cards in Victoria.
The Commonwealth
What the rule attaches to. The Commonwealth's authorisation provision reaches matter communicated on behalf of an entity whether or not the entity pays for the communication, and the Act's own notes give internet advertisements, bulk text messages and bulk voice calls as examples of what it can cover (Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, s 321D).
Where the lines sit. A notifying entity must ensure the particulars are notified, and for a printed communication they are notified at the end of the communication. In a journal, the name of the printer who printed the communication and the printer's address may be notified at the end of the communication or elsewhere in the journal; in any other case, the particulars sit at the end of the communication (Commonwealth Electoral (Authorisation of Voter Communication) Determination 2021). A journal means a newspaper, magazine or other periodical, whether it is sold or handed out free.
What happens if the particulars are wrong. A person may contravene the notifying duty by failing to ensure the particulars are notified, or by notifying particulars that are incorrect, and the duty is a civil penalty provision carrying 120 penalty units (Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918).
New South Wales
The rules do not apply only to traditional posters and flyers: electoral material in New South Wales elections can be in any format, tangible or electronic, and the common examples the Commission gives include how-to-vote cards, posters, leaflets and even stickers (NSW Electoral Commission).
Who must be named. Electoral material must include the name and street address of the person who authorised it, and printed electoral material must also show the name of the printer and the street address of the premises where it was printed (NSW Electoral Commission). In the Act's own words, a person must not, during the regulated period, print, publish, distribute or publicly display electoral material, other than the announcement in a newspaper of the holding of a meeting, without legibly showing the name and address of the individual on whose instructions the material was printed, published, distributed or publicly displayed (Electoral Act 2017 (NSW), s 186). The penalty for that is, for an individual, 20 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months or both, and otherwise 100 penalty units, and printing or distributing non-complying material during the regulated period carries 60 penalty units or 6 months for an individual and 300 penalty units otherwise (ss 186, 183).
Registration before election day. Electoral material must be registered during the registration period that applies for the election. Candidates, parties and other electoral participants apply and attach a copy of the material, which is checked before it is registered. If the deadline is missed or registration is refused, it is a criminal offence to distribute the material on election day, and the Commission recommends that material for distribution on election day is not printed until the Commission has notified that it has been registered. Some material does not need to be registered, including posters, social media posts and newspaper advertisements on election day, but it must still carry the proper authorisation details (NSW Electoral Commission).
The distance. During early voting and on election day, voters must not be approached, and posters must not be displayed, within a voting centre or within six metres of its entrance (NSW Electoral Commission).
Victoria
What counts as electoral. Authorisation is needed when material is electoral in nature, meaning it relates to voters, to elections, or to a matter covered by the Electoral Act or its regulations, and electoral matter is any content intended, or likely, to influence how someone votes in an election. Content is also electoral matter if it mentions an election, current and former members of Parliament, a political party, a candidate, or an issue put to voters at the election, and electoral material can take any form, including a leaflet, flyer, pamphlet or notice (Victorian Electoral Commission).
Who must be named. Electoral material must always be authorised and clearly show a name and street address on the material. The name must be the full or registered name of the person or organisation that authorised the material, and the address must include a full street address and a suburb or town name, and must not be a post office box. A how-to-vote card carries its own line-up: the name and address of the person who authorised the card, the name of the printer or publisher, and the printer's or publisher's business address (Victorian Electoral Commission).
The offence, and who counts as the printer. Printing, publishing or distributing electoral material without the authoriser's name and address appearing on it is an offence in Victoria, with a penalty of 50 penalty units for a body corporate and 10 for a natural person (Electoral Act 2002 (Vic), s 83). And a person who copies a how-to-vote card off the internet, to hand the copies out, is treated as the printer of them (s 83A(2)).
The distance. On election day, registered how-to-vote cards are the only material that can be handed out within 400 metres of voting centres, and a card must be registered with the Commission to be handed out there. More than 400 metres from a voting centre on election day, at an early voting centre, at a low sensory voting centre, or published online, a card does not need to be registered but must still be properly authorised (Victorian Electoral Commission).
One sheet, three rulebooks
| The rulebook | What it requires | Where that is written |
|---|---|---|
| The Commonwealth | The particulars notified at the end of the communication; in a journal, the printer's name and address may sit elsewhere in the journal. Civil penalty: 120 penalty units. | Commonwealth Electoral (Authorisation of Voter Communication) Determination 2021; Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, s 321D |
| New South Wales | The authoriser's name and street address; on printed material, the printer's name and the street address where it was printed; material for election day registered during the registration period. | Electoral Act 2017 (NSW), s 186; NSW Electoral Commission |
| Victoria | A full street address, never a post office box; a how-to-vote card adds the printer's or publisher's name and business address; within 400 metres of a voting centre on election day, only registered cards. | Electoral Act 2002 (Vic), ss 83, 83A; Victorian Electoral Commission |
A flyer can meet one rulebook and not another. A card handed out more than 400 metres from a Victorian voting centre needs no registration but still needs its authorisation; a poster put up in New South Wales on election day needs no registration but still needs its name and address; a Commonwealth communication needs its particulars at the end. The place and the kind of material decide which columns of the table above apply.