Podcast content shared by Abbie Chatfield of both Greens leader Adam Bandt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been given the all-clear by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), after it reviewed whether or not the content required authorisation.
But the AEC is continuing to look at whether the “cross-posting” of clips of the podcasts on Instagram between Ms Chatfield and the politicians’ own accounts means that they should be authorised by the parties and politicians.
The AEC was reviewing clips of the podcasts — shared by both Ms Chatfield and the leaders — as part of its commitment to reviewing all matters referred to it, but appeared to have focused on the full podcast interviews, rather than the clips.
“The AEC is not satisfied that the episodes of Ms Chatfield’s podcasts on 21 February, 2025, and 11 March, 2025, could be considered to be paid advertising or to be communicated by or on behalf of a candidate or party,” a spokesperson said.
“This content does not require an authorisation.”
Electoral content requires authorisation if it is designed to influence how someone votes and if it is paid for by a political party, candidate or “significant third party.”
But, there are exemptions for news or genuine editorial content, of which the AEC said there were many circumstances where posts by social media influencers could meet this definition.
The AEC said while Ms Chatfield’s podcasts could be seen as being made to influence how someone votes, there was no evidence there was any financial benefit to the podcaster.
“In addition, questions put to both interviewees were sourced from the podcast’s audience,” a spokesperson said.
“There is no evidence that either Mr Albanese or Mr Bandt had creative control in relation to the questions that were asked.”
While the commission reviews hundreds of queries, it said it was making the outcome of this issue public in fairness to Ms Chatfield, given it was widely reported on by media outlets.
The co-posts were raised in Senate Estimates last month by Liberal Senator Jane Hume, during which the AEC committed to reviewing the content.
On Thursday, the commission’s Evan Ekin-Smyth said the AEC was still reviewing the social media posts, but had cleared the podcast interview episodes.
“We were looking at the original interview – there’s still a question there about the cross-posting, particularly when it comes to how that appears on the pages of the political entities or participants themselves – so there’s still a question there that we’re looking at,” he said.
“But when it comes to the original podcast element and the side of the influencer, that’s what we’ve looked at, and the information we have to hand suggests that their content doesn’t need to be authorised.”
Speaking generally, the AEC said content creators must authorise posts that are paid for or shared on behalf of a political entity.
Influencers, podcasters a rising electoral force
Social media personalities have been playing an increasing role in how voters connect with politics ahead of the election, with politicians of all stripes turning to podcasts to elevate their personalities and policies to an audience they sometimes struggle to reach.
Popular podcasts hosted by Abbie Chatfield, The Betoota Advocate, Hannah Ferguson and Mark Bouris have all published interviews with political leaders in recent months.
Olympic diver and podcaster Sam Fricker has interviewed Peter Dutton and visited Canberra for his budget reply speech. (Supplied: Instagram)
In an effort to connect with a younger audience, Labor invited social media influencers to attend the Federal Budget lock-up — with the travel expenses of some paid for by the party, although it says there was no obligation on the guests to share any content of the budget.
This cohort did not include Ms Chatfield.
Podcaster and Olympic diver Sam Fricker was also invited to attend Mr Dutton’s budget reply speech in Canberra, where he filmed a video with the leader afterwards.
