Alison Penfold claimed $611,945 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 134th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $175,894. Largest categories: Office Administration ($321,656); Office Facilities ($131,492); Employee Travel ($64,654). 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.
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.
Alison Penfold's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$321,656
$221,473
$100,183 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$248,042
Office Consumables and Services
$72,806
Publications
$807
Office Facilities – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$131,492
$183,185
$51,693 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$131,492
Employee Travel – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$64,654
$114,932
$50,278 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$64,654
Other Car Costs – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$34,272
$27,108
$7,164 above the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$31,194
Private Vehicle Allowance
$1,704
Parking
$689
COMCAR
$686
Travel Allowance – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$30,636
$31,310
$674 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$30,636
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$26,211
$43,715
$17,504 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$26,211
Telecommunications – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,631
$2,701
$70 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,536
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$95
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Alison Penfold, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$394
$378
$16 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$394
Total across all periods: $621,151 (1 Apr 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, 5 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 – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$321,656
Printing and Communications
$248,042
Office Consumables and Services
$72,806
Publications
$807
Office Facilities – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$137,448
Office Facilities - Not stated
$137,448
Employee Travel – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$64,654
Domestic Travel
$64,654
Other Car Costs – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$34,443
Private-Plated Vehicle
$31,194
Private Vehicle Allowance
$1,704
Parking
$795
COMCAR
$751
Travel Allowance – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$32,544
Travel Allowance
$32,544
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$27,354
Fares
$27,354
Telecommunications – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$2,631
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,536
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$95
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Alison Penfold, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$420
Parliamentary Duties
$394
Party Political Duties
$27
What’s included in these figures
The total for Alison Penfold is the sum of all expenses charged to Alison Penfold’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?
Alison Penfold’s four-quarter total of $611,945 (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 $175,894, against an average of $152,986 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. Alison Penfold’s total of $611,945 is $35,761 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 134th 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.” Alison Penfold’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($321,656).
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 Alison Penfold 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.
