Sam Birrell’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $656,115
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Position: Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Education; Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture
Sam Birrell is Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Education; Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture. Sam Birrell claimed $656,115 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, the 2025–26 financial year), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 107th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $186,400. Largest categories: Office Administration ($320,653); Office Facilities ($152,128); Employee Travel ($79,268). Includes family and nominee travel, as in IPEA's own totals.
How these figures differ from IPEA’s
IPEA reports claims quarter by quarter. Political Gadgets adds up the latest four reported quarters to smooth one-off spikes (an election period, an overseas trip), then compares each parliamentarian with the median of all 224 and, for House members, with similar groups. The underlying data is IPEA’s; IPEA is the authoritative source. See IPEA’s Background on Expenditure Reporting.
Clusters group the 150 House electorates by shared traits (front-bench position, seat area, state, urban/rural); medians use the same rolling four-quarter totals as the headline figure, including family and nominee travel. Clusters with a single member are not shown. Source: Compare Electorates – browse by cluster.
Sam Birrell's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$320,653
$221,473
$99,180 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$242,580
Office Consumables and Services
$70,526
Publications
$7,547
Office Facilities – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$152,128
$183,185
$31,057 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$152,128
Employee Travel – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$79,268
$114,932
$35,664 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$79,268
Other Car Costs – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$34,690
$27,108
$7,582 above the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$25,265
COMCAR
$6,253
Parking
$3,172
Travel Allowance – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$33,828
$31,310
$2,518 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$33,828
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$29,553
$43,715
$14,162 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$29,553
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$4,545
$3,367
$1,178 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$4,467
COMCAR
$78
Telecommunications – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$1,430
$2,701
$1,271 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,430
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$20
$378
$358 below the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$20
Total across all periods: $2,310,060 (1 Apr 2022 – 30 Jun 2026, 17 quarters)
Refunds and credits are netted off. Category names from earlier reporting formats are matched to their current names. Explore quarter by quarter.
Office Administration – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,176,683
Printing and Communications
$906,411
Office Consumables and Services
$243,694
Publications
$25,314
Telephonic Services
$1,264
Office Facilities – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$529,845
Office Facilities - Not stated
$529,845
Employee Travel – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$264,559
Domestic Travel
$264,559
Other Car Costs – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$116,987
Private-Plated Vehicle
$83,087
COMCAR
$25,109
Parking
$8,790
Travel Allowance – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$100,808
Travel Allowance
$100,808
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$81,453
Fares
$81,453
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$14,281
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$14,018
COMCAR
$263
Telecommunications – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$13,501
Telecommunications - Usage
$13,501
International Travel – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$9,247
Parliamentary Delegations
$9,247
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$2,697
Electorate Duties
$1,431
Parliamentary Duties
$1,266
What’s included in these figures
The total for Sam Birrell is the sum of all expenses charged to Sam Birrell’s parliamentary office and
reported by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) over the 2025–26 financial year: travel,
office facilities and administration, vehicles, communications and other categories. Refunds and credits
are netted off, so a category can be negative. Family and nominee travel is included, as in
IPEA’s own headline total for a parliamentarian: those claims are attributed to the parliamentarian who made them and shown as their own category,
“Family or Nominee Travel”.
Method and data source
Quarterly claims are taken from IPEA’s open data on
data.gov.au (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia), current to the IPEA release of 2 Sep 2026.
Totals cover the four most recent reported quarters; the median and rank are calculated across all
sitting parliamentarians with claims in the same window. Earlier category names are matched to current ones.
Figures are compiled from IPEA data; IPEA is the authoritative source. Page generated 2026-10-23.
Political Gadgets’ compilation is licensed
CC BY-NC 4.0.
Frequently asked questions
Why four quarters instead of one?
Sam Birrell’s four-quarter total of $656,115 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026) smooths out one-off quarters such as an election period or an overseas trip. The latest single quarter (Apr–Jun 2026) was $186,400, against an average of $164,029 a quarter across the window.
What is the median and how is it calculated?
The median is the middle four-quarter total when all 224 sitting parliamentarians are ranked: half claimed less than $647,706 and half more. Sam Birrell’s total of $656,115 is $8,409 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 107th of 224.
Why do some parliamentarians claim much more than others?
IPEA says: “When comparing expenditure between parliamentarians, it is important to take into account the parliamentarian’s role, the size of their electorate, and their electorate’s distance from the closest capital city and Canberra.” Sam Birrell’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($320,653).
Is family and nominee travel included?
Yes. Claims for travel by family members or nominees are attributed to the parliamentarian who made them and counted in their total, as in IPEA’s own totals. For Sam Birrell this came to $4,545 over the window.
Expenditure data is compiled by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) and released under Creative Commons Licence (data.gov.au).
In all fairness there are some good reasons for variance in expenditure. The IPEA points out: "When comparing expenditure between parliamentarians, it is important to take into account the parliamentarian's role, the size of their electorate, and their electorate's distance from the closest capital city and Canberra. Further information on why some offices may have higher travel expenditure can be found on the IPEA website Background on Expenditure Reporting page."
Former members are not included in the totals, rankings or medians shown here.
