It’s been a strange few weeks because we have had seasoned campaigners who know the law knowingly put up illegal posters, spraying footpaths with illegal electoral material, and parking trucks to block peak hour clearway traffic.
Election signage is regulated by the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development) which applies across all of NSW. Relevant sections include:
๐ฆ๐๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ
๐ฎ.๐ด๐ฏ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐
(๐ญ) ๐ง๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ, ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐๐๐ –
(๐ฎ) ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ and, if the sign or part of the sign projects over adjoining land, the consent of the owner of the adjoining land, and
(๐ฏ) ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฏ, ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ, ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ
โฆ
(๐ฒ) ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ฏ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป,
๐ฆ๐๐ฏ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ญ๐ฏ ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐
๐ฎ.๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
(๐ญ) ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฐ๐ ๐ญ๐ต๐ญ๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ต, the Electoral Act 2017 or the Local Government Act 1993 is development specified for the purposes of this code.
(2) In this clauseโ
electoral matter meansโ
(a) matter that is intended, calculated or likely to affect, or is capable of affecting, the result of an election or that is intended, calculated or likely to influence, or is capable of influencing, an elector in relation to the casting of the electorโs vote at an election, or
(b) the name of a candidate at an election, the name of the party of a candidate and a picture of a candidate, including a photograph of the candidate and a drawing or printed matter that purports to depict the candidate or to be a likeness or representation of the candidate.
sign includes a poster, banner, placard and other similar material.
๐ฎ.๐ญ๐ฌ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐๐๐โ
(๐ฎ) ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎโ
(i) for a sign on land in a rural zoneโ3.75m2,
(๐ถ๐ถ) ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒโ๐ฌ.๐ด๐บ๐ฎ, and
โฆ
(๐ฒ) ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฑ๐โ
(๐ถ) ๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ,
(๐ถ๐ถ) ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ,
(๐ถ๐ถ๐ถ) ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ.
You can read the law for yourself here.
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/epi-2008-0572#pt.2-div.2-sdiv.1
And here
https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/epi-2008-0572#pt.2-div.2-sdiv.13
If you want to report an illegal sign, we are still formalising a process but Iโll provide more detail once it is available.
