My organisation is 100% run by volunteers – no paid staff at all. If we contact a DPO, are we lobbying?

Under the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015, persons who fall within the scope of the Act who communicate with Designated Public Officials about relevant matters must register and submit returns of lobbying activity. Persons within scope are:

- A person with more than 10 employees;

- A representative or issue-based body with 1 or more employees;

- A professional lobbyist paid to communicate on behalf of a client that falls within the previous categories; or

- Anyone who makes, manages or directs relevant communications about the development or zoning of land.

A volunteer organisation with no paid staff would generally not fit within the Act, unless they are communicating about development or zoning. However, if the communications are made by a person who holds, in the body, any office the functions of which relate to the affairs of the body as a whole, even if that person is unpaid, then they may be within the scope of the Act.

• A representative or issue-based body, run by volunteers and with no full time employees, where at least one of the organisation’s members would fall within scope of the Act if such member or members were to carry on lobbying activities outside of the body.

For more information, see the Guidelines for People Carrying on Lobbying Activities.