Ted O'Brien’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $1,070,747
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Position: Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs; member of the Shadow Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Ted O'Brien is Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs; member of the Shadow Cabinet; Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Ted O'Brien claimed $1,070,747 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 37th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $246,863. Largest categories: Office Administration ($378,577); Employee Travel ($247,217); Office Facilities ($244,282). 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.
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.
Ted O'Brien'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 – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$378,577
$262,346
$116,231 above the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$328,511
Office Consumables and Services
$42,890
Telephonic Services
$4,267
Publications
$2,908
Employee Travel – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$247,217
$124,917
$122,300 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$242,035
International Travel
$5,182
Office Facilities – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$244,282
$188,110
$56,172 above the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$244,282
Other Car Costs – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$68,963
$28,254
$40,709 above the median of $28,254
COMCAR
$41,454
Private-Plated Vehicle
$27,509
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$65,309
$45,732
$19,577 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$65,309
Travel Allowance – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$39,020
$34,320
$4,700 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$39,020
Family or Nominee Travel – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$13,121
$1,839
$11,282 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$11,662
COMCAR
$1,459
International Travel – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$11,364
$0
$11,364 above the median of $0
Official Visits
$11,364
Telecommunications – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,886
$2,683
$203 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,636
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,250
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$10
$340
$330 below the median of $340
Party Political Duties
$10
Total across all periods: $6,103,923 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Sep 2026, 35 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 – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$2,513,739
Printing and Communications
$2,167,435
Office Consumables and Services
$224,122
Specified Public Resources
$83,336
Publications
$25,343
Telephonic Services
$13,503
Office Facilities – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,524,192
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,524,192
Employee Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$1,031,448
Domestic Travel
$1,026,266
International Travel
$5,182
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$359,649
Fares
$359,649
Travel Allowance – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$274,655
Travel Allowance
$274,655
Other Car Costs – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$250,242
COMCAR
$142,947
Private-Plated Vehicle
$87,774
Parking
$12,793
Private Vehicle Allowance
$6,728
International Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$57,523
Parliamentary Delegations
$22,833
Official Visits
$20,786
Representing Australia
$13,904
Telecommunications – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$46,650
Telecommunications - Usage
$40,592
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$6,057
Family or Nominee Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$41,080
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$38,250
COMCAR
$2,830
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$4,746
Parliamentary Duties
$4,133
Official Duties
$603
Party Political Duties
$10
What’s included in these figures
The total for Ted O'Brien is the sum of all expenses charged to Ted O'Brien’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?
Ted O'Brien’s four-quarter total of $1,070,747 (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 $246,863, against an average of $267,687 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. Ted O'Brien’s total of $1,070,747 is $366,236 above the median of $704,511, which ranks 37th 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.” Ted O'Brien’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($378,577).
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 Ted O'Brien this came to $13,121 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.