Michaelia Cash’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $973,802
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; Shadow Attorney-General; member of the Shadow Cabinet
Michaelia Cash is Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; Shadow Attorney-General; member of the Shadow Cabinet. Michaelia Cash claimed $973,802 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 43rd of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $304,812. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($382,089); Office Facilities ($258,066); Office Administration ($165,358). 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.
Comparisons to similar groups
Cluster
Members
Cluster median (last 4 quarters)
This total vs the median
Position: Opposition leadership
5
$736,902
$236,900 above this group's median of $736,902
State: WA
12
$641,649
$332,153 above this group's median of $641,649
Senators are grouped by state or territory and by the highest office they hold (minister, assistant minister, presiding officer, opposition leadership, shadow minister, shadow assistant minister, party leadership, whip, or backbencher); 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. Ministry and shadow-ministry roles are from the Parliamentary Handbook.
Michaelia Cash'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.
Employee Travel – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$382,089
$124,917
$257,172 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$382,089
Office Facilities – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$258,066
$188,110
$69,956 above the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$258,066
Office Administration – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$165,358
$262,346
$96,988 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$104,525
Office Consumables and Services
$45,916
Publications
$14,917
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$76,812
$45,732
$31,080 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$76,812
Travel Allowance – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$46,154
$34,320
$11,834 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$46,154
Other Car Costs – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$31,443
$28,254
$3,189 above the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$23,771
COMCAR
$7,672
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$8,616
$340
$8,276 above the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$7,105
Party Political Duties
$1,511
Family or Nominee Travel – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$3,697
$1,839
$1,858 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,564
COMCAR
$133
Telecommunications – Michaelia Cash, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$1,567
$2,683
$1,116 below the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,567
Total across all periods: $8,647,845 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Sep 2026, 35 quarters)
Refunds and credits are netted off. Category names from earlier reporting formats are matched to their current names. Explore quarter by quarter.
Employee Travel – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$3,586,621
Domestic Travel
$3,509,900
International Travel
$76,721
Office Facilities – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$2,475,382
Office Facilities - Not stated
$2,475,382
Office Administration – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$977,939
Printing and Communications
$678,030
Office Consumables and Services
$205,283
Telephonic Services
$51,747
Publications
$42,880
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$747,857
Fares
$747,857
Travel Allowance – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$428,214
Travel Allowance
$427,218
Cancelled Accommodation
$996
Other Car Costs – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$256,596
Private-Plated Vehicle
$159,527
COMCAR
$96,710
Parking
$359
International Travel – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$72,395
Ministerial Visits
$72,395
Telecommunications – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$38,292
Telecommunications - Usage
$37,632
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$660
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$37,569
Parliamentary Duties
$14,371
Electorate Duties
$11,326
Official Duties
$10,361
Party Political Duties
$1,511
Family or Nominee Travel – Michaelia Cash, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$26,981
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$24,919
COMCAR
$2,061
What’s included in these figures
The total for Michaelia Cash is the sum of all expenses charged to Michaelia Cash’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?
Michaelia Cash’s four-quarter total of $973,802 (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 $304,812, against an average of $243,450 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. Michaelia Cash’s total of $973,802 is $269,291 above the median of $704,511, which ranks 43rd 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.” Michaelia Cash’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($382,089).
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 Michaelia Cash this came to $3,697 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.
