Varun Ghosh’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $561,579
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Varun Ghosh claimed $561,579 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 179th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $144,310. Largest categories: Office Facilities ($170,223); Employee Travel ($149,467); Scheduled Commercial Transport ($124,569). 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
$10,699 above this group's median of $550,880
State: WA
12
$641,649
$80,070 below this group's median of $641,649
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.
Varun Ghosh'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 – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$170,223
$188,110
$17,887 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$170,223
Employee Travel – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$149,467
$124,917
$24,550 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$149,467
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$124,569
$45,732
$78,837 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$124,569
Office Administration – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$46,795
$262,346
$215,551 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$36,616
Office Consumables and Services
$8,196
Publications
$1,983
Travel Allowance – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$46,741
$34,320
$12,421 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$46,741
Other Car Costs – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$22,174
$28,254
$6,080 below the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$11,405
COMCAR
$10,768
Telecommunications – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$951
$2,683
$1,732 below the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$951
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Varun Ghosh, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$659
$340
$319 above the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$560
Electorate Duties
$100
Total across all periods: $1,435,625 (1 Jan 2024 – 30 Sep 2026, 11 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 – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$573,405
Office Facilities - Not stated
$573,405
Employee Travel – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$304,211
Domestic Travel
$304,211
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$249,091
Fares
$249,091
Office Administration – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$142,516
Printing and Communications
$113,977
Office Consumables and Services
$24,781
Publications
$3,759
Travel Allowance – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$107,400
Travel Allowance
$107,400
Other Car Costs – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$47,838
Private-Plated Vehicle
$24,018
COMCAR
$23,820
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$8,742
Parliamentary Duties
$5,245
Electorate Duties
$3,497
Telecommunications – Varun Ghosh, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$2,423
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,423
What’s included in these figures
The total for Varun Ghosh is the sum of all expenses charged to Varun Ghosh’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?
Varun Ghosh’s four-quarter total of $561,579 (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 $144,310, against an average of $140,395 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. Varun Ghosh’s total of $561,579 is $142,932 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 179th 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.” Varun Ghosh’s largest category over the window was Office Facilities ($170,223).
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 Varun Ghosh this came to $0 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.
