Directly affected parties are those the Regulations single out by name or function, plus the Electoral Commission as the administering authority.
Nominees and candidates. Regulation 3 governs the photograph requirement for a nominee under section 32(1)(f) of the Act. Any person who intends to be nominated for election must provide a photograph that complies with regulation 3(1)(a)-(c) unless the Commission exercises the discretion in regulation 3(2). Regulation 3A requires nominees to provide a $500 nomination deposit and to pay it in a single payment by electronic transfer from an ADI or in cash (regulation 3A(a)-(c)). The Schedule Form 1 indicates that candidates’ photographs and their endorsing registered party name or “Independent” will appear on the ballot. These provisions create compliance tasks and costs for prospective candidates.
Electors (indirectly). Regulation 4 prescribes the ballot paper format voters will encounter, including photographs and party endorsements alongside candidate names, and instructions to number every box. That format shapes how electors are asked to mark preferences and how they receive candidate information at the point of voting, though electors bear no express new legal duties under the Regulations themselves.
Associated entities and third party campaigners. Regulation 5 prescribes specific registration fields that must be recorded in the register of associated entities and the register of third party campaigners, respectively. Entities and campaigners required by the Act to register must supply and thereby make public their full name, address and date of registration, and for associated entities the registered party with which the entity is associated (regulation 5(1)(c)). Those organisations therefore have an administrative obligation to provide the prescribed details for public register entry.
Individuals and bodies corporate facing Act offences. Regulation 2 prescribes infringement amounts for particular offences under the Act. It differentiates between individuals and bodies corporate for offences against s 215(1), (2) or (2A) of the Act (10 penalty units for individuals; 50 penalty units for a body corporate) and prescribes a token $25 for offences against s 279(1). The Regulations therefore affect those who may be charged with or issued infringement notices for those Act offences.
The Electoral Commission. The Commission is given specific operational functions: it can accept non-complying photographs when satisfied the nominee is readily recognisable (regulation 3(2)); it specifies an account to which nomination deposits are to be paid by electronic transfer (regulation 3A(c)(i)); it is implicitly responsible for applying Form 1 (regulation 4) and maintaining the registers whose fields are prescribed in regulation 5. The Commission therefore exercises administrative discretion and receives funds and documents under the Regulations.
Administrators and returning officers. Although not named in the Regulations, the practical operation of ballot paper form, photo acceptance, deposit receipts and register updates will fall to officials and staff of the Commission, including returning officers at electoral events. The text expressly commits certain tasks and choices to the Commission, but operational delivery will involve staff who apply those choices in practice.
Other public administrators and legal actors. Courts, tribunals and auditors will be implicated only to the extent disputes arise about the Commission’s exercise of discretion or the correctness of administrative records; the Regulations themselves do not create procedural pathways for review or appeal, but they identify administrative duties and discrete monetary penalties that could generate reviewable administrative action under general law.