Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated ActsPayment by direct credit or by cheque
(1) If the Electoral Commission is required to pay an amount under section 298D or 298E to the agent of a party, the Electoral Commission must pay the amount:
(a) if the party has nominated a bank account for the purposes of this section--to the credit of that account; or
(b) otherwise--by cheque payable to the party.
Note: An interim claim or final claim must specify the person to whom election funding is payable which may be the agent (see paragraph 298A(c)).
Nominated bank account
(2) A bank account nominated by a party for the purposes of this section must satisfy the following conditions:
(a) the account must be maintained by the party;
(b) the account must be with a bank;
(c) the account must be kept in Australia;
(d) the account name must consist of, or include:
(i) if the account is maintained by a registered political party--the name of the party as it appears in the Register of Political Parties; or
(ii) if the account is held by a State branch of a political party, and the branch is not a registered political party--the name of the State branch.
Name on cheque
(3) For the purposes of this section, a cheque is taken not to be payable to a party unless:
(a) if the party is a registered political party--the cheque is made out:
(i) if a determination under subsection (4) is in force in relation to the name of the party--in the special abbreviation of the name of the party; or
(ii) otherwise--in the name of the party, being the name as it appears in the Register of Political Parties; or
(b) if the party is a State branch of a political party, and the branch is not a registered political party--the cheque is made out:
(i) if a determination under subsection (4) is in force in relation to the name of the State branch--in the special abbreviation of the name of the State branch; or
(ii) otherwise--in the name of the State branch.
(4) The Electoral Commission may, by notice published in the Gazette , determine that a specified abbreviation of the name of a party is a special abbreviation of the name of the party for the purposes of this section.
(5) The Electoral Commission must publish a copy of a notice under subsection (4) on the internet.
(6) Before making a determination under subsection (4) in relation to a party, the Electoral Commission must consult the party.
(7) To avoid doubt, if a cheque under this section is made out in the special abbreviation of the name of a party, the cheque is as valid as it would have been if it had been made out in the name of the party.
Dispatch of cheques
(8) To avoid doubt, if a cheque under this section is payable to a party, this section does not prevent the Electoral Commission from dispatching the cheque to the agent of the party.
(9) In this section:
"bank" means a body corporate that is an ADI (authorised deposit - taking institution) for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 .
"party" means a registered political party or a State branch of a registered political party.