Deep Dive — Investigation 002
Follow the Money: Political Donations in Australia
This is a meta-investigation — not about a single issue, but about the system of political influence itself. Who funds our democracy, what do they get in return, and who keeps blocking reform?
Who Funds Politics? Industry Breakdown
Of the $34.6 billion in declared donations, $8.2 billion has been tagged to specific industries. Finance dominates, followed by mining and unions. These are the industries with the most to gain — or lose — from government policy.
Source: AEC annual returns, all available years. Industry tags cover ~24% of total donations by value. Click an industry to filter the donor table below.
Top 20 Donors
The largest individual donors to Australian political parties and associated entities. Click column headers to sort. Click an industry in the chart above to filter.
Source: AEC annual returns, all available years. Includes donations to unions, associated entities, and third-party campaigners.
Who Gets the Money?
Total donations received by party grouping (including state branches and associated entities). Labor leads by a wide margin, but much of this includes union-affiliated and associated entity flows. $18.3 billion flows to non-party entities (clubs, unions, third-party campaigners).
Corruption & Integrity in Parliament
Speeches tagged with “corruption” in federal Hansard over 25 years. Spikes often align with major scandals: the AWB inquiry (2006), Craig Thomson affair (2012), sports rorts (2020), and the push for a federal integrity commission (2017–2021).
Source: Hansard (parlinfo.aph.gov.au), NLP topic classification
The NACC Story
Australia was the last major democracy without a federal anti-corruption body. After a decade of campaigning by crossbenchers and civil society, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) finally began operations in July 2023. Who supported it — and who dragged their feet?
Reform Resistance: Donation Restrictions
How did parties vote on restricting political donations? The same parties that receive the most from corporate donors consistently vote against donation reform.
Dark Money & the Disclosure Gap
Australia's donation disclosure regime has been one of the weakest in the developed world. Key problems include high thresholds, delayed reporting, and multiple loopholes.
Incoming Reform
Electoral Reform Act 2025: New Rules from July 2026
After decades of resistance, Australia is finally tightening its donation disclosure laws. The Electoral Reform Act 2025, passed by the Albanese government, introduces the most significant changes to political financing in a generation.
Disclosure threshold
Reporting frequency
Foreign donations
Donation caps
OPAX will track this: When these rules take effect in July 2026, we will have near-real-time donation data for the first time. This page will update with live tracking of who is funding whom. Watch this space.