Cassandra Fernando claimed $627,377 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 122nd of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $222,013. Largest categories: Office Administration ($240,884); Office Facilities ($220,785); Employee Travel ($94,280). 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.
Cassandra Fernando's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Cassandra Fernando, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$22,150
$43,715
$21,565 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$22,150
Travel Allowance – Cassandra Fernando, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$14,572
$31,310
$16,738 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$14,572
Family or Nominee Travel – Cassandra Fernando, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$8,058
$3,367
$4,691 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$8,058
Telecommunications – Cassandra Fernando, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$1,547
$2,701
$1,154 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,547
Total across all periods: $2,418,827 (1 Apr 2022 – 30 Jun 2026, 17 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 – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$1,051,187
Printing and Communications
$986,566
Office Consumables and Services
$60,120
Publications
$4,502
Office Facilities – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$816,664
Office Facilities - Not stated
$816,664
Employee Travel – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$260,910
Domestic Travel
$260,910
Other Car Costs – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$96,552
Private-Plated Vehicle
$65,219
COMCAR
$31,333
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$80,171
Fares
$80,171
Travel Allowance – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$73,841
Travel Allowance
$73,841
Telecommunications – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$15,348
Telecommunications - Usage
$15,348
Family or Nominee Travel – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$14,418
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$14,418
International Travel – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$9,499
Parliamentary Delegations
$9,499
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Cassandra Fernando, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$236
Parliamentary Duties
$236
What’s included in these figures
The total for Cassandra Fernando is the sum of all expenses charged to Cassandra Fernando’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?
Cassandra Fernando’s four-quarter total of $627,377 (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 $222,013, against an average of $156,844 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. Cassandra Fernando’s total of $627,377 is $20,329 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 122nd 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.” Cassandra Fernando’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($240,884).
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 Cassandra Fernando this came to $8,058 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.
