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ANNUAL RETURN SYSTEM USER GUIDE FOR AN ORGANISATION THIRD-PARTY CAMPAIGNER Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) Online Disclosure System

DISCLAIMER

Please note, the information contained in this guide is specific to Victorian laws in relation to funding and disclosure and does not take into account the laws of other Australian jurisdictions. The information is also general in nature and does not take into account your individual circumstances. If in doubt you should seek professional advice.

MORE INFORMATION

More information about funding and disclosure obligations can be found at vec.vic.gov.au /disclosures .

For further queries please contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit

T: (03) 8260 1100 or 131 832E: [email protected]

VERSION CONTROL

Version

Date Effective Approved by Amendment

0.1 17/09/2019 Program Manager, Funding and Disclosure Nil

1.0 Director, Electoral Integrity and Regulation Nil

Annual Return System User Guide for an Organisation Third-Party Campaigner as at 9 October 2019 | VEC Online Disclosure System | D19/31679

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/

CONTENTSDefinitions......................................................................................................................................1Annual Return for an Organisation Third-Party Campaigner........................................................2

General information....................................................................................................................2

Required documents..................................................................................................................2

Annual Return due date.............................................................................................................2

VEC online disclosure system....................................................................................................3

More information........................................................................................................................3

Annual Return Process..................................................................................................................4

Complete Annual Return............................................................................................................4

Submit Annual Return..............................................................................................................15

Edit and submit an Annual Return in another session.............................................................16

Annual Return System User Guide for an Organisation Third-Party Campaigner as at 9 October 2019 | VEC Online Disclosure System | D19/31679

DEFINITIONS

Agent

An Individual Third-Party Campaigner may appoint a person as an Agent. The Agent will act on their behalf in relation to all funding and disclosure obligations, including reconciling political donations, maintaining the State Campaign Account, and submitting an Annual Return.

Annual Returns

An Annual Return is a return provided to the VEC via the VEC online disclosure system, that summarises amounts received and expenditure incurred during a financial year.

CandidateA Candidate is a person who has been selected by a political party to be a candidate in an election, or a person, other than a member of a political party, who has publicly announced an intention to be a Candidate in an election.

Elected memberAn Elected Member is a person who is a member of the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly of the Victorian Parliament.

Individual recipientsIndividual recipients include independent candidates, independent elected members and individual third-party campaigners.

Organisational recipientsOrganisational recipients include third-party campaigners and associated entities.

RecipientA recipient is a person or organisation that receives a political donation, being a Registered Political Party, a candidate, an elected Member, an associated Entity, a third-party campaigner or a nominated entity.

Third-Party CampaignerA third-party campaigner is a person or organisation that:

receives political donations or incurs political expenditure of more than $4,000 per financial year, and

is not a Registered Political Party, Candidate at an election, an Elected Member, an Associated Entity, or a Nominated Entity of a Registered Political Party.

Annual Return System User Guide for an Organisation Third-Party Campaigner as at 9 October 2019 | VEC Online Disclosure System | D19/31678 1

ANNUAL RETURN FOR AN ORGANISATION THIRD-PARTY CAMPAIGNER

This guide is intended to assist Organisation Third Party Campaigner, or their Registered Agent, to complete an Annual Return via the online disclosure system, as provisioned under Part 12 of the Electoral Act 2002.

General informationAs funding and disclosure provisions were enlivened on 25 November 2018, the 2018-19 Annual Return covers the period from 25 November 2018 to the end of the financial year on 30 June 2019.

Required documentsAnnual Returns must be accompanied with additional mandatory documentation, including:1. an audit certificate from an independent auditor advising that the statement has been

audited in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards as specified in Section 334(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth. As stipulated within section 209(3) of the Electoral Act 2002, the audit certificate must state that the auditor:

(i) was given full and free access at all reasonable times to all accounts, records, documents and papers relating directly or indirectly to any matter required to be specified in the statement; and

(ii) examined the material referred to in paragraph (i) for the purpose of giving the certificate; and

(iii) received all information and explanations that the auditor requested in respect of any matter required to be specified in the statement; and

(iv) has no reason to believe that any matter stated in the statement is not correct.

2. the Registered Political Party’s total amount of non-political donations (template provided in annual return), and

3. the Registered Political Party’s total amount of outstanding debts for the financial year (template provided in annual return).

Annual Return due dateAnnual Returns must be completed within 16 weeks of the end of financial year, and are due by 20 October each year (or the next business day if on a weekend). The 2018-2019 Annual Return is due by Monday 21 October 2019.

Annual Returns will be reviewed by the VEC and then published via the VEC online disclosure system from late 2019.


VEC online disclosure systemAnnual Returns can be completed and submitted over more than one session. The VEC online disclosure system allows a user to ‘Save and Continue’ and return in a separate session (see Edit and submit in another session for more information).

Please note that the online disclosure system is best viewed in Chrome.If you receive the following message on your browser,

please download and install Chrome using the link provided.

More informationFor further information about Annual Returns and the specific legislative obligations; refer to Determination No. 2 of 2019 under the Electoral Act 2002.

If you have any questions or require further clarification regarding an Annual Return, contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit via [email protected] or (03) 8620 1100 / 131 832 to discuss further.


mailto:[email protected]

https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/About/Legislation/Determinations.html

https://www.google.com.au/chrome/?brand=CHBD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhsfy6eCG5AIVGqqWCh328wYhEAAYASAAEgLK2fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

ANNUAL RETURN PROCESS

Complete Annual Return1. From the VEC online disclosure system home page, select ‘Sign in’ from the top menu.

2. Enter your user name and password and select ‘Sign in’.

3. From the Dashboard, select ‘Annual returns’ on the left-hand menu.


4. Select ‘Lodge annual return’.

Screen 1 – Enter Financial Year Details

5. Ensure that you read and understand the key information at the top of this page prior to progressing through the Annual Return form.

6. Select the 2018-2019 financial year from the drop-down list.

*Note: The default financial year for the system will always be the current financial year, however Annual Returns must be submitted for the previous financial year.


7. The organisation details will autopopulate with the organisation Third-Party Campaigner details. These details are locked and you are unable to edit these fields.

8. The ‘Agent details’ will autopopulate with the default Agent (Financial Controller) details, or if an Agent has been appointed, with the Agent’s details. These details are locked and you are unable to edit these fields.

9. The ‘Submitted by’ section will autopopulate with the details of the user currently logged in.


State campaign account income for financial year

10. Enter the total amount received for the 2018-19 financial year. Total income is the total amount received by, or on behalf of, the organisation Third-Party Campaigner.

11. The ‘Total disclosed political donations (inc. GST)’ field will autopopulate for the 2018-19 financial year. This auto-populated amount is the total disclosed political donations for the 2018-19 financial year previously disclosed via the VEC online disclosure system. The autopopulated amount will also appear within the line items in Table 1 at the bottom of this screen.


12. Enter the total amount of undisclosed political donations received for the 2018-19 financial year. The total of undisclosed political donations comprises donations received by the organisation Third-Party Campaigner under the $1,000 disclosure threshold that were not disclosed via the VEC online disclosure system.

13. Enter the total number of donors that have contributed to the total undisclosed political donations for the 2018-19 financial year.

14. Enter the total amount of non-political donations received for the 2018-2019 financial year. You must provide the individual details of all non-political donations in the downloadable Excel template. This Excel template is available for download on the next screen, after selecting ‘Save and Continue’.


State campaign account expenses for financial year

15. Enter the total amount of expenditure incurred for the 2018-19 financial year. The total expenditure is the total amount of expenses incurred by, or on behalf of, the organisation Third-Party Campaigner.

16. Enter the total amount of outstanding debts incurred for the 2018-19 financial year. You must provide the individual details of all outstanding debts in the downloadable Excel template. This Excel template is available for download on the next screen, after selecting ‘Save and Continue’.


17. ‘Table 1 – disclosed political donations’ will autopopulate with the line items of any relevant disclosed political donations for the 2018-19 financial year.

*Note: If there are any discrepancies between this record and your own records, contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit.

18. When the details that have been entered into the required fields, and the prepopulated fields match your records, select ‘Save and Continue’. This will save a draft version of the Annual Return. You can navigate away or log out of the VEC online disclosure system and return to edit or submit in another session.


Screen 2 – Upload Documents

19. Before you submit the Annual Return, you must upload mandatory documentation, including:

(a) an audit certificate from an independent auditor advising that the statement has been audited in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards as specified in Section 334(1) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). As stipulated within section 209(3) of the Electoral Act 2002, the audit certificate must state that the auditor:

(i) was given full and free access at all reasonable times to all accounts, records, documents and papers relating directly or indirectly to any matter required to be specified in the statement, and

(ii) examined the material referred to in paragraph (i) for the purpose of giving the certificate, and

(iii) received all information and explanations that the auditor requested in respect of any matter required to be specified in the statement, and

(iv) has no reason to believe that any matter stated in the statement is not correct.

(b) details of all non-political donations in the Excel template provided, and

(c) details of outstanding debts in the Excel template provided.

20. The templates can be downloaded by selecting ‘template’.

*Note: If the Organisation Third-Party Campaigner has not received any non-political donations or has not incurred any debts within the financial year, it is a requirement that the templates are completed and uploaded as ‘Nil’.

21. Upload each document by selecting ‘Upload New Document’.


22. A pop-up window will prompt you to select the document type from the drop-down list and include a description of the document.

23. Select ‘Choose File’.

24. In the Open dialog, choose your document, and select ‘Open’.

*Note: The open dialog may vary depending on your computer’s operating system.


25. When you have chosen a document, it will appear on the ‘Upload new document’ pop-up under ‘Attach a file’.

26. Select ‘Upload’.

27. The document will appear as a line item. Repeat steps 21-26 for the remaining mandatory documents. Any documents that appear as line items are saved to your Annual Return and you will not lose them if you navigate away from this page.


28. When you have uploaded all your documents, review the acknowledgement and select the ‘I confirm’ checkbox before submitting.

*Note: if you have any questions about this acknowledgment, contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit.


Submit Annual Return29. You can submit your Annual Return once mandatory fields and documents have been

uploaded.

Important: You cannot make changes to your Annual Return after you submit. If you need to make changes to your Annual Return, contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit.

30. You will see a submission confirmation screen. The VEC will review the Annual Return and will contact you if any further information is required.


Edit and submit an Annual Return in another session31. Annual Returns can be completed and submitted over more than one session. Make sure you

save and continue if you wish to do so. Any documents previously uploaded will also be saved.

32. To go back to the previous screen, select ‘Back’. Make sure you save and continue if you wish to exit and return later.

33. To finalise and submit an Annual Return that you have previously started, log in again and navigate to the Annual Returns page. Your saved Annual Return will be listed as a line item with a status of ‘Unsubmitted’. Select ‘Edit’ to make further changes.


34. When you have completed your Annual Return, select the ‘I confirm’ tick box, then select ‘Submit’.

35. The Annual Return will appear as ‘submitted’ on the ‘Annual returns’ page.

Important: You cannot make changes to your Annual Return after you submit. If you need to make changes to the Annual Return, contact the VEC Funding and Disclosure Unit.
