The report, Campaign finance reform in Tasmania: issues and options, by Dr Eccleston and researcher Zoë Jay, provides an evidence-based guide to reform and includes seven recommendations for state-level policy action.

Among its recommendations, the report suggests a donation disclosure threshold of $1000, compared to the current federal threshold of $13,800, and capping the campaign spending of House of Assembly candidates at $30,000.

Dr Eccleston said, without reform, Tasmania will continue to have the weakest campaign finance laws of any state in Australia.

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"In recent years, less than a quarter of income received by political parties has been declared under federal disclosure laws," Dr Eccleston said.

"At a minimum, provisions around the disclosure of political donations and spending need to be in place [for the next election].

"It's important that these reforms are considered and legislation is drafted this year or very soon after.

"This sort of reform is very difficult to implement on the eve of an election campaign because parties are very focused on the campaign, and in terms of the implementation of the system."

Dr Eccleston said the report's recommendations are founded in improving transparency.

"The key principle is that voters should know who has funded candidates or parties before they vote," Dr Eccleston said.

"Concern across the country about the influence of political donations and money in politics has become a really significant issue.

"Now is the time to act, given the rising tide of money in Australian politics combined with waning confidence in Australia's democracy.

"It's not necessarily limiting the amount of money that candidates or political parties can spend or receive in donations, but at least making sure that they are disclosed."

Dr Eccleston said evidence from other states suggests it would be relatively easy to implement a state-level disclosure scheme in Tasmania.

"The evidence from interstate suggests it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive, particularly if we shared resources and platforms," he said.

"It's hard to put a dollar figure on it but it's not astronomically expensive."

Report co-author Dr Jay said the disclosure scheme would be affordable and accommodate and preserve the distinctive features of the Tasmanian electoral system and Parliament.

"We also consider the related issues of limiting political donations and campaign spending, whether public funding should be made available to support political campaigning and whether 'third parties' need to be subjected to tighter regulations," Dr Jay said.

"These issues are more complex and less clear cut, but we believe there is a case for extending a modified version of the spending cap which applies to Legislative Council elections to the House of Assembly.

"As political theorists have argued for over half a century, if democracies are to survive and thrive, we need to ensure that governments represent and promote the public interest over those of powerful corporations or unions.

"Given that trust in government is falling around the world, it is more important than ever to promote simple reforms which will boost the public's confidence in election results and ensure that policy decisions are being made in the public interest."

The report was prepared as a contribution to the government's review of the Tasmanian Electoral Act 2004.

"We certainly commend the government's review of the act and this report, and the work that has informed it, is designed as a practical contribution to what the priorities for reform in Tasmania should be and how they should be structured," Dr Eccleston said.

"The issue was considered just before the 2014 election, but it was really too close to the election and the Legislative Council wasn't properly consulted. It hasn't been a priority since.

"It's time to consider reforms."

The report recommends:

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