Queensland Parliament Passes Electoral Reform Laws Aimed at Increasing Fairness and Transparency
The Queensland Government has passed a series of electoral reforms through Parliament, aiming to increase fairness, transparency, and integrity in the state’s election processes.
The reforms fulfill a key election commitment by the current government. Under the new laws, individuals serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention for one year or more will no longer be eligible to vote in state or local government elections, or referendums.
The legislation changes rules around political donations, now allowing both trade unions and property developers to make donations for state election campaigns. The previous ban on property developer donations at a state level differed from Recommendation 20 of the Crime and Corruption Commission’s Operation Belcarra Report, which focused on local government elections. Importantly, the ban on property developers donating to local government election campaigns remains in place, with increased penalties for breaches to strengthen the local council donation ban.
Reforms to enhance integrity around political advertising will now require authorisations on all electoral material in the 12 months before polling day, encouraging transparency and ensuring Queenslanders know who is behind political advertisements.
The new laws make political donation cap periods annualised in alignment with New South Wales and the Commonwealth, while loans from regulated lenders and reputable financial institutions for electoral expenditure are now permitted.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity Deb Frecklington said the reforms were intended to create a fairer electoral system. “The government is delivering what we promised—an electoral system that is fair, transparent and focused on integrity,” the Attorney-General said. “These reforms not only put victims first, but bring Queensland into line with other jurisdictions, and restore a genuine level playing field for political donations.
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