Josh Dolega claimed $460,502 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 196th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $124,033. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($122,814); Office Facilities ($117,123); Scheduled Commercial Transport ($80,567). 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.
Comparisons to similar groups
Cluster
Members
Cluster median (last 4 quarters)
This total vs the median
Position: Backbencher (no front-bench or leadership role)
29
$496,431
$35,929 below this group's median of $496,431
State: TAS
10
$455,487
$5,015 above this group's median of $455,487
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.
Josh Dolega's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$122,814
$114,932
$7,882 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$122,814
Office Facilities – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$117,123
$183,185
$66,062 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$117,123
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$80,567
$43,715
$36,852 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$80,567
Office Administration – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$60,702
$221,473
$160,771 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$37,804
Office Consumables and Services
$20,449
Publications
$2,449
Travel Allowance – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$52,008
$31,310
$20,698 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$51,580
Cancelled Accommodation
$428
Family or Nominee Travel – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$14,262
$3,367
$10,895 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$14,129
COMCAR
$133
Other Car Costs – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$8,329
$27,108
$18,779 below the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$8,329
Telecommunications – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$3,836
$2,701
$1,135 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$2,051
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,786
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Josh Dolega, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$860
$378
$482 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$860
Total across all periods: $472,130 (1 Apr 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, 5 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 – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$125,237
Domestic Travel
$125,237
Office Facilities – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$122,873
Office Facilities - Not stated
$122,873
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$82,554
Fares
$82,554
Office Administration – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$60,702
Printing and Communications
$37,804
Office Consumables and Services
$20,449
Publications
$2,449
Travel Allowance – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$52,962
Travel Allowance
$52,534
Cancelled Accommodation
$428
Family or Nominee Travel – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$14,262
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$14,129
COMCAR
$133
Other Car Costs – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$8,843
COMCAR
$8,843
Telecommunications – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$3,836
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$2,051
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,786
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Josh Dolega, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$860
Parliamentary Duties
$860
What’s included in these figures
The total for Josh Dolega is the sum of all expenses charged to Josh Dolega’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?
Josh Dolega’s four-quarter total of $460,502 (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 $124,033, against an average of $115,125 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. Josh Dolega’s total of $460,502 is $187,204 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 196th 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.” Josh Dolega’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($122,814).
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 Josh Dolega this came to $14,262 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.
