Don Farrell’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $2,048,707
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 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 $2,048,707 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 2nd of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $667,068. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($1,175,330); Office Facilities ($368,412); International Travel ($186,732). 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: Minister (cabinet or outer ministry)
8
$1,365,453
$683,254 above this group's median of $1,365,453
State: SA
12
$512,142
$1,536,565 above this group's median of $512,142
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 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$1,175,330
$114,932
$1,060,398 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$925,466
International Travel
$249,864
Office Facilities – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$368,412
$183,185
$185,227 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$368,412
International Travel – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$186,732
$0
$186,732 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$186,732
Office Administration – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$108,445
$221,473
$113,028 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$76,169
Office Consumables and Services
$30,315
Publications
$1,961
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$87,388
$43,715
$43,673 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$87,388
Travel Allowance – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$52,701
$31,310
$21,391 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$52,701
Family or Nominee Travel – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$40,475
$3,367
$37,108 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$38,042
COMCAR
$2,433
Other Car Costs – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$23,033
$27,108
$4,075 below the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$23,033
Telecommunications – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$6,080
$2,701
$3,379 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,503
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,576
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$111
$378
$267 below the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$111
Total across all periods: $8,812,585 (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.
Employee Travel – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$4,329,658
Domestic Travel
$3,635,223
International Travel
$694,436
Office Facilities – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,646,523
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,646,523
Office Administration – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$905,906
Printing and Communications
$706,762
Office Consumables and Services
$164,361
Publications
$30,288
Telephonic Services
$6,685
Additional Printing and Communications
-$2,190
International Travel – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$678,574
Ministerial Visits
$678,574
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$467,284
Fares
$467,284
Travel Allowance – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$355,201
Travel Allowance
$355,201
Other Car Costs – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$196,657
COMCAR
$158,147
Private-Plated Vehicle
$38,487
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$23
Family or Nominee Travel – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$175,220
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$163,963
COMCAR
$11,257
Telecommunications – Don Farrell, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$50,592
Telecommunications - Usage
$41,212
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$9,380
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 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?
Don Farrell’s four-quarter total of $2,048,707 (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 $667,068, against an average of $512,177 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. Don Farrell’s total of $2,048,707 is $1,401,001 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 2nd 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.” Don Farrell’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($1,175,330).
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 $40,475 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.