Lisa Chesters’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $495,371
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Lisa Chesters claimed $495,371 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 188th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $135,087. Largest categories: Office Administration ($225,245); Office Facilities ($123,676); Employee Travel ($53,203). 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.
Lisa Chesters's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$225,245
$221,473
$3,772 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$188,808
Office Consumables and Services
$34,581
Publications
$1,856
Office Facilities – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$123,676
$183,185
$59,509 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$123,676
Employee Travel – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$53,203
$114,932
$61,729 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$53,203
Other Car Costs – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$34,643
$27,108
$7,535 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$20,555
Private-Plated Vehicle
$14,088
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$25,743
$43,715
$17,972 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$25,743
Travel Allowance – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$20,732
$31,310
$10,578 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$20,732
Family or Nominee Travel – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$7,861
$3,367
$4,494 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$5,870
COMCAR
$1,991
Telecommunications – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,998
$2,701
$297 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,635
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,363
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Lisa Chesters, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,269
$378
$891 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$1,269
Total across all periods: $3,596,704 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Jun 2026, 34 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 – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,804,355
Printing and Communications
$1,586,136
Office Consumables and Services
$203,094
Publications
$13,625
Telephonic Services
$1,500
Office Facilities – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$987,239
Office Facilities - Not stated
$987,239
Other Car Costs – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$235,348
COMCAR
$125,836
Private-Plated Vehicle
$108,568
Parking
$658
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$285
Travel Allowance – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$201,630
Travel Allowance
$201,630
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$123,934
Fares
$123,934
Employee Travel – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$83,028
Domestic Travel
$83,028
Family or Nominee Travel – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$79,661
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$73,291
COMCAR
$5,883
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$488
Telecommunications – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$56,349
Telecommunications - Usage
$45,537
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$10,812
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Lisa Chesters, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$25,159
Parliamentary Duties
$24,981
Official Duties
$178
What’s included in these figures
The total for Lisa Chesters is the sum of all expenses charged to Lisa Chesters’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?
Lisa Chesters’s four-quarter total of $495,371 (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 $135,087, against an average of $123,843 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. Lisa Chesters’s total of $495,371 is $152,335 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 188th 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.” Lisa Chesters’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($225,245).
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 Lisa Chesters this came to $7,861 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.
