National Compliance Manager

About the role

The National Compliance Manager is a senior, nationally-scoped role that sits at the heart of One Nation’s governance and regulatory framework. It exists to ensure that One Nation — as a registered federal political party, an incorporated entity, and a multi-state electoral operation — meets every compliance and reporting obligation imposed on it by law, regulation and its own constitution, at all times and without exception.

This is not an advisory role. The National Compliance Manager owns the compliance function end to end: from the preparation and lodgement of all federal filings, to supporting State and Territory officers in meeting their own obligations, to ensuring every endorsed candidate is properly contracted and financially settled before, during and after an election. The role is the primary point of contact for all federal regulatory agencies, and the internal authority on what must be filed, by whom, and by when.

The standard for this role is simple: zero missed deadlines, zero deregistration risks, and zero compliance failures.

What you will do

Federal compliance — the AEC and federal agencies

• Own, prepare and lodge all compliance filings required of a registered federal political party under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 — including the Annual Return, real-time donation disclosures, candidate and Senate group returns, associated entity returns and election funding acquittals.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the Australian Electoral Commission, the Australian Taxation Office, ASIC, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, and any other body with jurisdiction over the Party or its entities.
• Maintain the Party’s federal registration in good standing at all times, including timely notification of changes to Registered Officers and Deputy Registered Officers.
• Monitor and enforce compliance with foreign donation prohibitions, gift and donation cap thresholds, authorisation requirements for electoral material, and dedicated account obligations for public funding receipts.
• Oversee the preparation and submission of BAS returns, Superannuation Guarantee payments, PAYG withholding obligations and Taxable Payments Annual Reports, in collaboration with the Finance Officer.
• Maintain a live five-year compliance calendar tracking every federal, state and internal milestone, with commence-work dates, review dates, due-by dates and escalations.
• Coordinate the annual audit of party accounts, ensuring the external auditor receives all source documents on time and that the audited accounts are incorporated into the AEC Annual Return without delay.

State and Territory compliance

• Act as the national compliance authority for all State and Territory electoral obligations, owning the compliance calendar across NSW, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT.
• Work with the State President, State Secretary and State Treasurer in each jurisdiction so that annual returns, candidate returns, real-time donation disclosures, expenditure cap compliance and campaign finance returns are completed accurately and lodged on time.
• Establish and maintain a structured filing workflow for each state, with minimum lead times for preparation, internal review and sign-off.
• Conduct regular compliance check-ins with each State Executive to monitor outstanding obligations, identify emerging risks, and confirm that branch-level financial reporting meets applicable state electoral law.
• Maintain direct lines of communication with each State Electoral Commission and act as the escalation point for regulatory queries and correspondence.
• Ensure state payroll tax obligations, workers compensation renewals, incorporated association returns and other state-based regulatory requirements are identified, tracked and met.
• Produce a monthly compliance status report summarising the standing of every state and federal obligation, the responsible officers, and any items requiring executive attention.

Candidate compliance

• Own the candidate compliance lifecycle from pre-endorsement through to post-election settlement, ensuring every endorsed and prospective candidate at federal and state level is fully compliant with their legal and contractual obligations at every stage.
• Ensure all prospective candidates have a fully executed Candidate Agreement in place prior to public endorsement, campaign activity or expenditure being incurred on their behalf.
• Coordinate candidate nomination documentation, vetting clearances and nomination fees ahead of any nomination being lodged with an electoral commission.
• Track, manage and process candidate reimbursements and campaign expenditure remittances, ensuring payments are properly authorised, accurately documented and within applicable electoral expenditure caps.
• Ensure candidates and elected members are aware of, and are actively meeting, their personal disclosure obligations under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and relevant state electoral legislation.
• Maintain a candidate compliance register recording contract status, nomination documentation, expenditure tracking, reimbursement history and disclosure lodgement dates.

Systems, records and governance

• Own and maintain the Party’s compliance management system, ensuring all items are current, correctly assigned and actively monitored.
• Develop and maintain a suite of compliance guides, checklists and standard operating procedures for use by State Officers, Branch Coordinators, candidates and treasurers.
• Manage and retain all compliance records in accordance with the Party’s document retention policy and applicable privacy legislation, ensuring filed documents, confirmation receipts, regulator correspondence and audit trails are stored securely and retrievable on demand.
• Support responses to any regulatory inquiry, audit, investigation or formal request for information from the AEC, a state electoral commission, the ATO, ASIC or any other government body.
• Conduct an annual risk assessment of the Party’s compliance exposure across all jurisdictions and entities, identifying emerging obligations such as legislative amendments and new disclosure thresholds.
• Liaise with external legal counsel and the Party’s accountants to obtain professional advice on complex or novel compliance matters, and ensure that advice is documented, actioned and communicated.

What we are looking for

Knowledge and technical expertise

• Demonstrable working knowledge of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, with specific expertise in party registration, disclosure obligations, donation rules, election funding and electoral material authorisation requirements.
• Sound understanding of the financial disclosure and electoral compliance frameworks of at least three Australian State and Territory electoral commissions, with the ability to quickly develop working knowledge across the remaining jurisdictions.
• Practical experience with ATO compliance obligations relevant to a political party or not-for-profit entity, including BAS, PAYG, SGC and the Taxable Payments Annual Report.
• Familiarity with the Privacy Act 1988, the Notifiable Data Breach scheme, and the obligations of an entity that collects and stores sensitive personal data.
• Working knowledge of ASIC obligations applicable to Australian incorporated entities, including annual review requirements and officeholder notification obligations.
• Ability to interpret and apply legislative instruments, regulatory guidance and Electoral Commission communiqués without requiring specialist legal support for routine matters.

Professional experience

• Minimum five years’ experience in a compliance, governance, regulatory, legal or equivalent senior administrative role — preferably in a political party, government body, financial services entity or regulated not-for-profit organisation.
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple, concurrent regulatory filing obligations across different bodies and jurisdictions simultaneously, with a proven track record of on-time lodgement.
• Experience managing relationships with government agencies and regulatory bodies at a national or multi-state level, including responding to regulatory requests, audits or investigations.
• Experience in contract management — drafting, executing, tracking and enforcing contractual arrangements. Direct experience managing candidate, contractor or service provider agreements is highly regarded.
• Demonstrated experience designing and maintaining compliance registers, tracking systems or governance frameworks, with proficiency in project management or workflow tools.
• Experience in a fast-paced, politically sensitive environment requiring a high degree of discretion, confidentiality and judgment will be highly regarded.

Skills and attributes

• Exceptional organisational discipline — the ability to manage a large volume of concurrent obligations across multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders without dropping any item.
• High-order written communication skills — the ability to produce regulatory submissions, internal compliance guides, candidate briefings and executive reports to a professional standard.
• Confident, direct and professional interpersonal skills — the ability to drive compliance outcomes through officers and volunteers who are not direct reports, using influence, clarity and authority rather than hierarchy.
• Analytical rigour — the ability to read legislative instruments, identify applicable obligations, assess risk, and translate complex requirements into simple, actionable checklists and processes for non-specialists.
• Resilience and composure under pressure — election periods produce tight, immovable deadlines, and this role must perform at its highest standard precisely when the pressure is greatest.
• Unimpeachable personal integrity — this role handles sensitive regulatory, financial and contractual information. The highest standards of honesty, confidentiality and ethical conduct are non-negotiable.
• Proactive risk orientation — identifying a compliance problem before it becomes a deadline failure, and escalating it before it becomes a deregistration risk.

Qualifications

• A tertiary qualification in Law, Political Science, Public Policy, Business Administration, Accounting or a related discipline is required.
• Postgraduate qualifications in law, governance or compliance will be highly regarded but are not essential where equivalent professional experience can be demonstrated.
• Membership of a relevant professional body — the Governance Institute of Australia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, or the Australian Institute of Company Directors — will be viewed favourably.

Conditions

Full-time, based at National Headquarters in Brisbane, with national travel required. Engagement as a permanent employee or senior contractor will be determined with the right candidate. Salary is commensurate with experience, plus superannuation. Reasonable pre-approved travel, accommodation and professional development expenses are reimbursed in accordance with Party policy. Performance is reviewed at six months and annually.

How to apply

Apply using the form on this page. Your application should demonstrate:

• A curriculum vitae detailing relevant experience, qualifications and professional memberships.
• A cover letter of no more than two pages addressing, specifically: your working knowledge of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and AEC compliance requirements; your demonstrated experience managing multi-jurisdictional compliance obligations; and a specific example where your personal intervention prevented or remedied a significant compliance risk.
• Confirmation of your eligibility to work in Australia, and your willingness to undergo a background and character check as part of the Party’s standard vetting process.

Applications are treated as strictly confidential.