Karen Grogan’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $456,921
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Deputy Government Whip in the Senate
Karen Grogan is Deputy Government Whip in the Senate. Karen Grogan claimed $456,921 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 211th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $130,457. Largest categories: Office Administration ($132,802); Office Facilities ($106,604); Employee Travel ($104,779). 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: Whip
11
$456,921
in line with this group's median of $456,921
State: SA
12
$556,752
$99,831 below 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.
Karen Grogan'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 Administration – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$132,802
$262,346
$129,544 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$118,087
Office Consumables and Services
$11,793
Publications
$2,079
Telephonic Services
$843
Office Facilities – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$106,604
$188,110
$81,506 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$106,604
Employee Travel – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$104,779
$124,917
$20,138 below the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$104,779
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$52,183
$45,732
$6,451 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$52,183
Travel Allowance – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$38,419
$34,320
$4,099 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$38,419
Other Car Costs – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$17,703
$28,254
$10,551 below the median of $28,254
COMCAR
$9,143
Private-Plated Vehicle
$8,560
Telecommunications – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,264
$2,683
$1,581 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,264
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$169
$340
$171 below the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$169
Total across all periods: $1,928,423 (1 Jul 2021 – 30 Sep 2026, 21 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 – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$557,814
Printing and Communications
$444,615
Office Consumables and Services
$103,015
Publications
$7,764
Telephonic Services
$2,420
Office Facilities – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$461,999
Office Facilities - Not stated
$461,999
Employee Travel – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$378,692
Domestic Travel
$378,692
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$204,870
Fares
$204,870
Travel Allowance – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$186,479
Travel Allowance
$186,479
Other Car Costs – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$70,370
COMCAR
$35,753
Private-Plated Vehicle
$34,617
International Travel – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$47,000
Representing Australia
$47,000
Telecommunications – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$19,796
Telecommunications - Usage
$19,796
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,404
Parliamentary Duties
$1,328
Electorate Duties
$76
What’s included in these figures
The total for Karen Grogan is the sum of all expenses charged to Karen Grogan’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?
Karen Grogan’s four-quarter total of $456,921 (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 $130,457, against an average of $114,230 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. Karen Grogan’s total of $456,921 is $247,590 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 211th 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.” Karen Grogan’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($132,802).
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 Karen Grogan 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.
