Sam Birrell’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $704,160
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 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 $704,160 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 114th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $168,461. Largest categories: Office Administration ($336,730); Office Facilities ($168,974); Employee Travel ($89,763). 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 226 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 latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$336,730
$262,346
$74,384 above the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$257,418
Office Consumables and Services
$72,395
Publications
$6,916
Office Facilities – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$168,974
$188,110
$19,136 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$168,974
Employee Travel – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$89,763
$124,917
$35,154 below the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$89,763
Travel Allowance – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$36,522
$34,320
$2,202 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$36,522
Other Car Costs – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$36,018
$28,254
$7,764 above the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$25,978
COMCAR
$7,556
Parking
$2,485
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$30,872
$45,732
$14,860 below the median of $45,732
Fares
$30,872
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$3,514
$1,839
$1,675 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,514
Telecommunications – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$1,362
$2,683
$1,321 below the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,362
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$407
$340
$67 above the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$407
Total across all periods: $2,478,521 (1 Apr 2022 – 30 Sep 2026, 18 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
$1,239,608
Printing and Communications
$947,668
Office Consumables and Services
$264,193
Publications
$26,483
Telephonic Services
$1,264
Office Facilities – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$572,791
Office Facilities - Not stated
$572,791
Employee Travel – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$294,409
Domestic Travel
$294,409
Other Car Costs – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$127,110
Private-Plated Vehicle
$90,342
COMCAR
$27,921
Parking
$8,847
Travel Allowance – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$112,133
Travel Allowance
$112,133
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$90,670
Fares
$90,670
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$15,635
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$15,372
COMCAR
$263
Telecommunications – Sam Birrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$13,814
Telecommunications - Usage
$13,814
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
$3,104
Parliamentary Duties
$1,673
Electorate Duties
$1,431
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 latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): 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 11 Nov 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 2026-11-12.
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 $704,160 (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026) smooths out one-off quarters such as an election period or an overseas trip. The latest single quarter (Jul–Sep 2026) was $168,461, against an average of $176,040 a quarter across the window.
What is the median and how is it calculated?
The median is the middle four-quarter total when all 226 sitting parliamentarians are ranked: half claimed less than $704,511 and half more. Sam Birrell’s total of $704,160 is $351 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 114th of 226.
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 ($336,730).
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 $3,514 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.