Fix Victoria

What it is

A Victorian advocacy group registered as an incorporated association on 29 June 2026, campaigning on crime, corruption and debt The Age . It ran the largest third-party advertising campaign of the pre-campaign period, then stopped. Its founder is Deborah Henderson, a former BBC journalist who was until June the Institute of Public Affairs’ deputy executive director; its public face is Gideon Rozner, formerly the IPA’s director of policy, and it shares a Collins Street office with the HR Nicholls Society The Age .

What it spent

Just under $100,000 on Google and Meta advertising in August 2026 — about a quarter of all election-related advertising that month — plus an ad in the AFL wildcard final on Channel Seven on 28 August Guardian . It outspent the Liberals, the teal independents and One Nation on social media in that month Guardian . Its ads reached 5.18 million people on free-to-air television and commercial radio The Age .

Why it stopped

On 30 September it pulled the ads and took the material off its website. Its own legal advice was that running them into the campaign period — 1 October to polling day — would make it a third-party campaigner, subject to the donation cap and the disclosure threshold. It stopped rather than disclose The Age .

Where the money comes from

Not public. It has about 30 members and 150 paid subscribers, and it declines to name its funders, saying it prioritises their privacy The Age . Its founders would not confirm or deny whether the Cormack Foundation funded it; Cormack’s directors would not discuss it either The Age . The Victorian ALP believes Cormack money is behind it, which the group denies The Age . It files no return, because it is not a registered third-party campaigner.

Why it matters

The Electoral Act’s coverage turns on whether an advertisement promotes or opposes a party or a candidate. Fix Victoria’s ads argued for a change of government without naming one, so the disclosure obligations never attached Guardian . Its money is unaccounted for in every public register — federal and state.

Getting involved

It is not recruiting publicly; after the ads stopped it said it would form an advisory council of business people and remain active after the election The Age .