Who's paying for political ads on Facebook in Australia?
Every day Meta publishes what was spent on Facebook and Instagram ads about social issues, elections or politics in Australia. We group every advertiser by who they are, so you can see how much comes from parties and candidates, advocacy groups, unions, business, government and charities. So far in 2026, $36,360,312 has been spent; the biggest category is Advocacy (22.5%).
- UNICEF Australia $1.73m
- Queensland Government $1.60m
- Australian Energy Producers $1.32m
All days
A page for every day from 1 January 2026 (307 so far), each listing every advertiser and the split by category.
Browse all daysAdvertisers
1,998 advertisers in 2026. Find out what any of them has spent.
Spend by category in 2026
| Category | 2026 to date | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Party/Candidate Parties, MPs, senators, councillors and candidates. | $6,994,952 | 19.2% |
| Advocacy Campaign groups, think tanks and NGOs whose ads push for a change in policy or a vote. | $8,189,732 | 22.5% |
| Union Trade unions and union bodies. | $1,283,300 | 3.5% |
| Business Companies, and industry and professional associations. | $5,308,452 | 14.6% |
| Government Government departments and agencies, councils, electoral commissions and public broadcasters. | $5,279,368 | 14.5% |
| Charity Charities whose ads ask for donations or promote their services. | $6,328,851 | 17.4% |
| Other Media outlets, law firms and others, plus ads Meta says ran without a disclaimer. | $1,496,770 | 4.1% |
| Small advertisers Advertisers not in the category list who have never spent more than $100 in a day (Meta reports their spend only as '≤$100'). | $1,475,815 | 4.1% |
| Unclassified New advertisers not yet reviewed. | $3,072 | 0.0% |
Biggest spenders in 2026
| # | Advertiser | Category | Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UNICEF Australia | Charity | $1,729,478 |
| 2 | Queensland Government | Government | $1,598,385 |
| 3 | Australian Energy Producers | Business | $1,317,486 |
| 4 | These ads ran without a disclaimer | Other | $1,252,624 |
| 5 | Greenpeace Australia Pacific | Advocacy | $1,233,477 |
| 6 | Minerals Council of Australia | Business | $933,572 |
| 7 | Amnesty International Australia | Advocacy | $738,673 |
| 8 | Médecins Sans Frontières Australia | Charity | $697,435 |
| 9 | The Australia Institute | Advocacy | $600,256 |
| 10 | Transport Victoria | Government | $571,366 |
All advertisers → · Download the data: daily totals by category (CSV), every advertiser (CSV)
Source: Meta Ad Library report (ads about social issues, elections or politics, Australia), with categories added by Political Gadgets. Offered 'as is' under CC BY-NC 4.0.