Helen Polley’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $450,472
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Helen Polley claimed $450,472 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 200th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $147,359. Largest categories: Office Facilities ($127,396); Employee Travel ($113,736); Scheduled Commercial Transport ($60,343). 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: Backbencher (no front-bench or leadership role)
29
$496,431
$45,959 below this group's median of $496,431
State: TAS
10
$455,487
$5,015 below this group's median of $455,487
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.
Helen Polley's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Facilities – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$127,396
$183,185
$55,789 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$127,396
Employee Travel – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$113,736
$114,932
$1,196 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$113,736
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$60,343
$43,715
$16,628 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$60,343
Office Administration – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$48,418
$221,473
$173,055 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$24,809
Office Consumables and Services
$22,703
Publications
$866
Telephonic Services
$39
Travel Allowance – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$44,451
$31,310
$13,141 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$44,451
Other Car Costs – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$41,787
$27,108
$14,679 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$21,528
Private-Plated Vehicle
$20,258
Family or Nominee Travel – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$9,245
$3,367
$5,878 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$9,245
Telecommunications – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,209
$2,701
$492 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,808
Telecommunications - Usage
$401
International Travel – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$1,761
$0
$1,761 above the median of $0
Parliamentary Delegations
$1,761
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Helen Polley, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,127
$378
$749 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$1,127
Total across all periods: $3,019,034 (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 Facilities – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$939,020
Office Facilities - Not stated
$939,020
Office Administration – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$837,525
Printing and Communications
$674,275
Office Consumables and Services
$136,768
Publications
$26,443
Telephonic Services
$39
Employee Travel – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$400,854
Domestic Travel
$400,854
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$269,752
Fares
$269,752
Travel Allowance – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$234,595
Travel Allowance
$234,595
Other Car Costs – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$226,111
Private-Plated Vehicle
$136,332
COMCAR
$89,580
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$199
Telecommunications – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$43,378
Telecommunications - Usage
$27,042
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$16,336
Family or Nominee Travel – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$31,640
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$30,279
COMCAR
$859
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$501
International Travel – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$31,407
Parliamentary Delegations
$31,407
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Helen Polley, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$4,752
Parliamentary Duties
$4,339
Electorate Duties
$319
Official Duties
$94
What’s included in these figures
The total for Helen Polley is the sum of all expenses charged to Helen Polley’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?
Helen Polley’s four-quarter total of $450,472 (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 $147,359, against an average of $112,618 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. Helen Polley’s total of $450,472 is $197,234 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 200th 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.” Helen Polley’s largest category over the window was Office Facilities ($127,396).
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 Helen Polley this came to $9,245 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.
