Anne Ruston’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $685,357
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 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 $685,357 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 123rd of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $219,923. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($283,972); Office Facilities ($120,722); Office Administration ($98,171). 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.
Comparisons to similar groups
Cluster
Members
Cluster median (last 4 quarters)
This total vs the median
Position: Opposition leadership
5
$736,902
$51,545 below this group's median of $736,902
State: SA
12
$556,752
$128,605 above this group's median of $556,752
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 latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$283,972
$124,917
$159,055 above the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$283,972
Office Facilities – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$120,722
$188,110
$67,388 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$120,722
Office Administration – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$98,171
$262,346
$164,175 below the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$80,584
Office Consumables and Services
$12,840
Publications
$4,747
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$94,341
$45,732
$48,609 above the median of $45,732
Fares
$94,341
Travel Allowance – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$53,938
$34,320
$19,618 above the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$53,938
Other Car Costs – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$21,458
$28,254
$6,796 below the median of $28,254
COMCAR
$18,732
Private-Plated Vehicle
$2,727
Telecommunications – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$7,599
$2,683
$4,916 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,934
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$2,665
Family or Nominee Travel – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$3,514
$1,839
$1,675 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,514
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$1,641
$340
$1,301 above the median of $340
Parliamentary Duties
$1,081
Official Duties
$473
Electorate Duties
$87
Total across all periods: $5,824,483 (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.
Employee Travel – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$2,516,539
Domestic Travel
$2,429,184
International Travel
$87,354
Office Facilities – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$996,679
Office Facilities - Not stated
$996,679
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$721,778
Fares
$721,778
Office Administration – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$693,686
Printing and Communications
$577,594
Office Consumables and Services
$89,378
Publications
$24,139
Telephonic Services
$2,574
Travel Allowance – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$416,064
Travel Allowance
$416,064
Other Car Costs – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$212,707
COMCAR
$167,480
Private-Plated Vehicle
$44,122
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
$60,603
Telecommunications - Usage
$47,444
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$13,160
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Anne Ruston, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$55,063
Official Duties
$23,249
Electorate Duties
$16,062
Parliamentary Duties
$12,892
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 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?
Anne Ruston’s four-quarter total of $685,357 (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 $219,923, against an average of $171,339 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. Anne Ruston’s total of $685,357 is $19,154 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 123rd 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.” Anne Ruston’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($283,972).
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 $3,514 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.
