Richard Dowling’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $549,287
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Richard Dowling claimed $549,287 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 186th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $159,978. Largest categories: Office Facilities ($222,379); Office Administration ($140,579); Employee Travel ($102,761). 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: Backbencher (no front-bench or leadership role)
30
$550,880
$1,593 below this group's median of $550,880
State: TAS
12
$486,047
$63,240 above this group's median of $486,047
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.
Richard Dowling'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 Facilities – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$222,379
$188,110
$34,269 above the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$222,379
Office Administration – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$140,579
$262,346
$121,767 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$107,092
Office Consumables and Services
$29,794
Publications
$3,662
Telephonic Services
$31
Employee Travel – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$102,761
$124,917
$22,156 below the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$102,761
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$27,265
$45,732
$18,467 below the median of $45,732
Fares
$27,265
Travel Allowance – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$27,190
$34,320
$7,130 below the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$27,190
Other Car Costs – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$25,461
$28,254
$2,793 below the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$16,292
COMCAR
$9,108
Parking
$61
Telecommunications – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,074
$2,683
$609 below the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,298
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$777
Family or Nominee Travel – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$1,524
$1,839
$315 below the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$1,451
COMCAR
$73
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Richard Dowling, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$54
$340
$286 below the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$54
Total across all periods: $640,891 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Sep 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.
Office Facilities – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$262,740
Office Facilities - Not stated
$262,740
Office Administration – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$148,425
Printing and Communications
$107,384
Office Consumables and Services
$36,667
Publications
$4,343
Telephonic Services
$31
Employee Travel – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$119,534
Domestic Travel
$119,534
Travel Allowance – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$35,255
Travel Allowance
$35,255
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$32,732
Fares
$32,732
Other Car Costs – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$32,583
Private-Plated Vehicle
$20,738
COMCAR
$11,762
Parking
$83
Family or Nominee Travel – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$6,728
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$5,942
COMCAR
$786
Telecommunications – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$2,789
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,807
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$981
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Richard Dowling, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$106
Parliamentary Duties
$54
Electorate Duties
$53
What’s included in these figures
The total for Richard Dowling is the sum of all expenses charged to Richard Dowling’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?
Richard Dowling’s four-quarter total of $549,287 (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 $159,978, against an average of $137,322 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. Richard Dowling’s total of $549,287 is $155,224 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 186th 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.” Richard Dowling’s largest category over the window was Office Facilities ($222,379).
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 Richard Dowling this came to $1,524 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.
