Skip to content

Ted O'Brien’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $1,080,476 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 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 $1,080,476 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 32nd of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $326,971. Largest categories: Office Administration ($323,831); Employee Travel ($273,508); Office Facilities ($263,625). 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

ClusterMembersCluster median (last 4 quarters)This total vs the median
Position: Shadow Cabinet10$746,166$334,310 above this group's median of $746,166
Area: 1,000–10,000 km²32$694,795$385,681 above this group's median of $694,795
State: QLD30$714,984$365,492 above this group's median of $714,984
Urban / rural: Urban/Suburban98$663,877$416,599 above this group's median of $663,877

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 ($5,857,060)

See individual expense line items, quarter by quarter

Compare Ted O'Brien with other politicians

Expenses by quarter

QuarterDatesTotal claimedTop category
Q2 20261 Apr – 30 Jun 2026$326,971Office Administration ($156,003)
Q1 20261 Jan – 31 Mar 2026$245,645Office Administration ($81,654)
Q4 20251 Oct – 31 Dec 2025$251,269Office Facilities ($93,187)
Q3 20251 Jul – 30 Sep 2025$256,592Office Facilities ($71,458)
Q2 20251 Apr – 30 Jun 2025$348,677Office Administration ($195,862)
Q1 20251 Jan – 31 Mar 2025$154,600Office Administration ($54,790)
Q4 20241 Oct – 31 Dec 2024$186,743Employee Travel ($50,459)
Q3 20241 Jul – 30 Sep 2024$306,372Office Administration ($115,207)

Expenses by category

Ted O'Brien's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.

Office Administration – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Administration$323,831$221,473$102,358 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications$272,164
Office Consumables and Services$47,736
Publications$2,997
Telephonic Services$933
Employee Travel – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Employee Travel$273,508$114,932$158,576 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel$268,327
International Travel$5,182
Office Facilities – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Office Facilities$263,625$183,185$80,440 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated$263,625
Other Car Costs – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Other Car Costs$78,349$27,108$51,241 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR$48,818
Private-Plated Vehicle$28,719
Parking$812
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Scheduled Commercial Transport$76,091$43,715$32,376 above the median of $43,715
Fares$76,091
Travel Allowance – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Travel Allowance$45,089$31,310$13,779 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance$45,089
International Travel – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
International Travel$9,713$0$9,713 above the median of $0
Official Visits$9,713
Family or Nominee Travel – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Family or Nominee Travel$7,607$3,367$4,240 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport$6,294
COMCAR$1,313
Telecommunications – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Telecommunications$2,586$2,701$115 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage$1,500
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$1,086
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, 2025–26
CategoryAmountMedianDifference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport$78$378$300 below the median of $378
Official Duties$60
Parliamentary Duties$18

Total across all periods: $5,857,060 (1 Jan 2018 – 30 Jun 2026, 34 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
CategoryAmount
Office Administration$2,396,857
Printing and Communications$2,067,514
Office Consumables and Services$211,978
Specified Public Resources$83,336
Publications$23,861
Telephonic Services$10,169
Office Facilities – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Office Facilities$1,472,077
Office Facilities - Not stated$1,472,077
Employee Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Employee Travel$994,590
Domestic Travel$989,409
International Travel$5,182
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Scheduled Commercial Transport$348,041
Fares$348,041
Travel Allowance – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Travel Allowance$267,186
Travel Allowance$267,186
Other Car Costs – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Other Car Costs$236,193
COMCAR$135,189
Private-Plated Vehicle$81,483
Parking$12,793
Private Vehicle Allowance$6,728
International Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
International Travel$55,872
Parliamentary Delegations$22,833
Official Visits$19,135
Representing Australia$13,904
Telecommunications – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Telecommunications$45,941
Telecommunications - Usage$40,048
Telecommunications - Residential - Official$5,894
Family or Nominee Travel – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Family or Nominee Travel$35,566
Scheduled Commercial Transport$32,882
COMCAR$2,684
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ted O'Brien, all periods
CategoryAmount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport$4,736
Parliamentary Duties$4,133
Official Duties$603

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 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?

Ted O'Brien’s four-quarter total of $1,080,476 (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 $326,971, against an average of $270,119 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. Ted O'Brien’s total of $1,080,476 is $432,770 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 32nd 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.” Ted O'Brien’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($323,831).

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 $7,607 over the window.

Generated 2026-10-23 • Data: IPEA • Political Gadgets