Karen Grogan is Deputy Government Whip in the Senate. Karen Grogan claimed $413,387 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 214th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $125,925. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($110,849); Office Facilities ($105,405); Office Administration ($82,886). 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: Whip
10
$425,487
$12,100 below this group's median of $425,487
State: SA
12
$512,142
$98,755 below 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.
Karen Grogan's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$110,849
$114,932
$4,083 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$110,849
Office Facilities – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$105,405
$183,185
$77,780 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$105,405
Office Administration – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$82,886
$221,473
$138,587 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$66,148
Office Consumables and Services
$13,751
Publications
$2,125
Telephonic Services
$863
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$52,184
$43,715
$8,469 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$52,184
Travel Allowance – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$40,655
$31,310
$9,345 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$40,655
Other Car Costs – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$16,694
$27,108
$10,414 below the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$9,908
Private-Plated Vehicle
$6,786
Telecommunications – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,509
$2,701
$1,808 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,509
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$204
$378
$174 below the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$204
Total across all periods: $1,797,966 (1 Jul 2021 – 30 Jun 2026, 20 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
$499,727
Printing and Communications
$392,688
Office Consumables and Services
$97,476
Publications
$7,183
Telephonic Services
$2,380
Office Facilities – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$439,158
Office Facilities - Not stated
$439,158
Employee Travel – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$353,298
Domestic Travel
$353,298
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$194,759
Fares
$194,759
Travel Allowance – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$178,807
Travel Allowance
$178,807
Other Car Costs – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$65,071
COMCAR
$34,521
Private-Plated Vehicle
$30,550
International Travel – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$47,000
Representing Australia
$47,000
Telecommunications – Karen Grogan, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$18,741
Telecommunications - Usage
$18,741
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 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?
Karen Grogan’s four-quarter total of $413,387 (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 $125,925, against an average of $103,347 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. Karen Grogan’s total of $413,387 is $234,319 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 214th 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.” Karen Grogan’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($110,849).
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.
