Needs source-date, figure, and framing review before quoting externally. Align it by checking the source date, the main figures, whether it still supports the CivicGraph / ACT operating map, and what action it should send people to next.
Political Money
Who funds Australian politics — and what do they get in return? 0 donation records from to , cross-referenced against about 797K government contracts. 0 entities appear on both sides: donating to parties AND winning government work.
Source: Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) disclosure returns × AusTender contract data. Cross-referenced by Australian Business Number (ABN).
Party Funding
Where the money goes. Total political donations by recipient party or associated entity, ranked by total amount received. Includes direct party donations and affiliated organisation flows.
Major Parties & Affiliated Entities
Top 30 Political Donors
The biggest donors to Australian politics by total disclosed amount. Entities with a government contract match are flagged — they appear on both sides.
| # | Donor | Total Donated | Contracts |
|---|
Pay to Play?
0 entities that donate to political parties ALSO hold government contracts. They donated a combined $0 and received $0 in government contracts — a return of N/A their political investment.
| # | Entity | Donated | Contracts |
|---|
Correlation does not imply causation. Many donor-contractors are large corporations for whom political engagement and government contracting are normal operations. This table highlights the overlap — interpretation requires context.
Donations Over Time
Total political donations by financial year, from to . Spikes typically align with election cycles and changes to disclosure thresholds.
All Recipients
Full breakdown of all political donation recipients, including parties, associated entities, unions, and other registered organisations. Ranked by total amount received.
| # | Recipient | Total Received |
|---|
Methodology
Data source: Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) annual financial disclosure returns. Political parties, associated entities, donors, and third-party campaigners are required to lodge returns disclosing financial details above the applicable disclosure threshold. Current threshold is $16,900 (indexed annually).
Coverage: 0 records from financial year to , covering 0 unique donor names. 0 donors have an Australian Business Number (ABN) on file, enabling cross-referencing against AusTender government contract data.
Cross-referencing: Donor-contractor identification uses the CivicGraph entity resolution system. Entities are matched across the political donations and AusTender datasets using ABN as the primary key. The “Pay to Play” section uses the pre-computed mv_revolving_door materialized view which scores entities across multiple influence vectors.
What counts as a “donation”: AEC disclosure data includes donations (gifts), other receipts, debts, and some operational transfers between party branches and associated entities (e.g., union affiliation fees). This means totals include intra-party flows that may inflate headline numbers. The “donation_to” field reflects the receiving entity as recorded in the AEC return.
Caveats: Below-threshold donations are not disclosed. Donations can be split across multiple entities to stay under thresholds. Associated entity flows (unions, clubs, holding companies) may be counted separately from their parent party. Some large “donations” are in fact public election funding disbursements from the AEC itself. The ratio of contracts-to-donations should not be interpreted as a direct return on investment — correlation does not establish causation.
Limitations: State/territory donation data is not yet included (federal AEC only). Real-time donations are not available — AEC returns are lodged annually with significant delay. Some entities operate under multiple ABNs or entity names, which may cause undercounting of aggregated totals.
Dig Deeper
Explore the donor-contractor network on the interactive graph, or see the full cross-system power analysis with all 7 datasets.
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