Don Farrell’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $2,007,112
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Special Minister of State; Minister for Trade and Tourism; member of Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate
Don Farrell is Special Minister of State; Minister for Trade and Tourism; member of Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. Don Farrell claimed $2,007,112 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 2nd of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $414,980. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($1,158,801); Office Facilities ($372,901); International Travel ($173,870). 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: Minister (cabinet or outer ministry)
8
$1,376,349
$630,763 above this group's median of $1,376,349
State: SA
12
$556,752
$1,450,360 above this group's median of $556,752
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.
Don Farrell'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 – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$1,158,801
$124,917
$1,033,884 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$931,247
International Travel
$227,554
Office Facilities – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$372,901
$188,110
$184,791 above the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$372,901
International Travel – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$173,870
$0
$173,870 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$173,870
Office Administration – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$122,262
$262,346
$140,084 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$81,585
Office Consumables and Services
$38,832
Publications
$1,845
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$77,969
$45,732
$32,237 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$77,969
Travel Allowance – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$45,894
$34,320
$11,574 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$45,894
Family or Nominee Travel – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$27,201
$1,839
$25,362 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$25,474
COMCAR
$1,727
Other Car Costs – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$22,097
$28,254
$6,157 below the median of $28,254
COMCAR
$22,097
Telecommunications – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$6,017
$2,683
$3,334 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,264
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,753
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$100
$340
$240 below the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$100
Total across all periods: $9,227,565 (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 – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$4,563,310
Domestic Travel
$3,859,950
International Travel
$703,360
Office Facilities – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,736,993
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,736,993
Office Administration – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$951,860
Printing and Communications
$743,190
Office Consumables and Services
$173,134
Publications
$31,041
Telephonic Services
$6,685
Additional Printing and Communications
-$2,190
International Travel – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$688,528
Ministerial Visits
$688,528
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$483,517
Fares
$483,517
Travel Allowance – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$365,556
Travel Allowance
$365,556
Other Car Costs – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$201,997
COMCAR
$163,487
Private-Plated Vehicle
$38,487
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$23
Family or Nominee Travel – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$176,776
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$165,378
COMCAR
$11,397
Telecommunications – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$52,057
Telecommunications - Usage
$42,266
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$9,791
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$6,970
Official Duties
$4,213
Parliamentary Duties
$2,757
What’s included in these figures
The total for Don Farrell is the sum of all expenses charged to Don Farrell’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?
Don Farrell’s four-quarter total of $2,007,112 (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 $414,980, against an average of $501,778 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. Don Farrell’s total of $2,007,112 is $1,302,601 above the median of $704,511, which ranks 2nd 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.” Don Farrell’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($1,158,801).
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 Don Farrell this came to $27,201 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.