[no bill text published] Civil penalties for misleading electoral and referendum matter
Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Communications) Bill 2025 (No. 2)
Independent Bill1st House
2nd House
Law
Introduced by: David Pocock (IND)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
People or entities face a 1,000 penalty unit fine for authorising misleading written, audio, or visual factual claims during elections or referendums.
Advertisements created or modified using digital technology must state that the content was substantially or entirely created or modified using digital technology.
The Chair of the Electoral Communications Panel can order people or entities to provide information or documents for investigations.
It is a criminal offence to ignore or contravene a notice issued by the Electoral Communications Panel.
The Federal Court can grant injunctions to stop people or broadcasters from sharing misleading electoral or referendum matter.