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Sam Lim’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $703,761 (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)

Sam Lim claimed $703,761 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 115th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $203,412. Largest categories: Office Administration ($313,498); Office Facilities ($186,418); Employee Travel ($81,886). 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 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

ClusterMembersCluster median (last 4 quarters)This total vs the median
Position: Backbencher84$687,710$16,051 above this group's median of $687,710
Area: 100–1,000 km²58$703,290$471 above this group's median of $703,290
State: WA16$876,393$172,632 below this group's median of $876,393
Urban / rural: Urban/Suburban98$726,481$22,720 below this group's median of $726,481

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.

Jump to total across all periods ($2,839,600)

See individual expense line items, quarter by quarter

Compare Sam Lim with other politicians Full politician profile

Federal member for Tangney. Tangney boundary summary

Expenses by quarter

QuarterDatesTotal claimedTop category
Q3 20261 Jul – 30 Sep 2026$203,412Office Administration ($84,010)
Q2 20261 Apr – 30 Jun 2026$242,329Office Administration ($138,299)
Q1 20261 Jan – 31 Mar 2026$107,052Office Facilities ($35,625)
Q4 20251 Oct – 31 Dec 2025$150,969Office Administration ($62,956)
Q3 20251 Jul – 30 Sep 2025$126,609Office Facilities ($44,571)
Q2 20251 Apr – 30 Jun 2025$165,817Office Administration ($108,739)
Q1 20251 Jan – 31 Mar 2025$162,001Office Administration ($76,597)
Q4 20241 Oct – 31 Dec 2024$222,668Office Administration ($108,921)

Expenses by category

Sam Lim'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 – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Administration$313,498$262,346$51,152 above the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications$284,619
Office Consumables and Services$28,297
Publications$581
Office Facilities – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Facilities$186,418$188,110$1,692 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated$186,418
Employee Travel – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Employee Travel$81,886$124,917$43,031 below the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel$81,886
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Scheduled Commercial Transport$76,792$45,732$31,060 above the median of $45,732
Fares$76,792
Travel Allowance – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Travel Allowance$33,282$34,320$1,038 below the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance$33,282
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Family or Nominee Travel$5,019$1,839$3,180 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport$4,681
COMCAR$338
Telecommunications – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Telecommunications$3,628$2,683$945 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage$2,470
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$1,158
Other Car Costs – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Other Car Costs$2,173$28,254$26,081 below the median of $28,254
COMCAR$8,252
Parking$8
Private-Plated Vehicle-$6,087
International Travel – Sam Lim, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
International Travel$1,065$0$1,065 above the median of $0
Parliamentary Delegations$1,065

Total across all periods: $2,839,600 (1 Apr 2022 – 30 Sep 2026, 18 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 – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Office Administration$1,228,037
Printing and Communications$1,081,358
Office Consumables and Services$143,523
Publications$3,156
Office Facilities – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Office Facilities$684,483
Office Facilities - Not stated$684,483
Employee Travel – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Employee Travel$310,358
Domestic Travel$310,358
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Scheduled Commercial Transport$296,580
Fares$296,580
Travel Allowance – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Travel Allowance$117,178
Travel Allowance$117,178
Other Car Costs – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Other Car Costs$91,293
Private-Plated Vehicle$52,060
COMCAR$39,108
Parking$125
Family or Nominee Travel – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Family or Nominee Travel$54,237
Scheduled Commercial Transport$53,027
COMCAR$1,210
International Travel – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
International Travel$37,260
Parliamentary Delegations$25,555
Representing Australia$11,704
Telecommunications – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Telecommunications$18,719
Telecommunications - Usage$14,396
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$4,324
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Sam Lim, all periods
CategoryAmount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport$1,455
Parliamentary Duties$1,455

What’s included in these figures

The total for Sam Lim is the sum of all expenses charged to Sam Lim’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?

Sam Lim’s four-quarter total of $703,761 (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 $203,412, against an average of $175,940 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. Sam Lim’s total of $703,761 is $750 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 115th 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.” Sam Lim’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($313,498).

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 Sam Lim this came to $5,019 over the window.

Generated 2026-11-12 • Data: IPEA • Political Gadgets