Anne Ruston’s parliamentary expenses 2025–26: $622,096
(1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026)
Position: Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care; Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; member of the Shadow Cabinet
Anne Ruston is Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care; Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; member of the Shadow Cabinet. Anne Ruston claimed $622,096 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 125th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $146,475. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($278,944); Office Facilities ($123,998); Scheduled Commercial Transport ($90,656). 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: Opposition leadership
5
$622,096
in line with this group's median of $622,096
State: SA
12
$512,142
$109,954 above this group's median of $512,142
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.
Anne Ruston's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$278,944
$114,932
$164,012 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$278,944
Office Facilities – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$123,998
$183,185
$59,187 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$123,998
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$90,656
$43,715
$46,941 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$90,656
Travel Allowance – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$50,514
$31,310
$19,204 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$50,514
Office Administration – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$34,534
$221,473
$186,939 below the median of $221,473
Office Consumables and Services
$18,344
Printing and Communications
$11,523
Publications
$4,667
Other Car Costs – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$22,431
$27,108
$4,677 below the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$17,667
Private-Plated Vehicle
$4,765
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$8,499
$378
$8,121 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$4,561
Electorate Duties
$3,465
Official Duties
$473
Telecommunications – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$7,485
$2,701
$4,784 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$5,025
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$2,460
Family or Nominee Travel – Anne Ruston, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$5,035
$3,367
$1,668 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$5,035
Total across all periods: $5,604,560 (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.
Employee Travel – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$2,456,564
Domestic Travel
$2,369,210
International Travel
$87,354
Office Facilities – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$957,158
Office Facilities - Not stated
$957,158
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$694,146
Fares
$694,146
Office Administration – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$619,707
Printing and Communications
$508,166
Office Consumables and Services
$88,208
Publications
$20,759
Telephonic Services
$2,574
Travel Allowance – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$406,378
Travel Allowance
$406,378
Other Car Costs – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$205,344
COMCAR
$161,158
Private-Plated Vehicle
$43,081
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$977
Parking
$129
International Travel – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$140,992
Ministerial Visits
$124,369
Representing Australia
$16,622
Telecommunications – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$59,187
Telecommunications - Usage
$46,232
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$12,954
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$54,710
Official Duties
$23,249
Electorate Duties
$16,062
Parliamentary Duties
$12,539
Representing a Minister
$2,860
Family or Nominee Travel – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$10,373
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$10,373
What’s included in these figures
The total for Anne Ruston is the sum of all expenses charged to Anne Ruston’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?
Anne Ruston’s four-quarter total of $622,096 (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 $146,475, against an average of $155,524 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. Anne Ruston’s total of $622,096 is $25,610 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 125th 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.” Anne Ruston’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($278,944).
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 Anne Ruston this came to $5,035 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.