Meryl Swanson claimed $631,094 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 120th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $187,651. Largest categories: Office Administration ($310,047); Office Facilities ($162,413); Employee Travel ($75,515). 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.
Meryl Swanson's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$310,047
$221,473
$88,574 above the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$253,762
Office Consumables and Services
$55,699
Publications
$586
Office Facilities – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$162,413
$183,185
$20,772 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$162,413
Employee Travel – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$75,515
$114,932
$39,417 below the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$75,515
Other Car Costs – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$31,334
$27,108
$4,226 above the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$23,864
COMCAR
$7,470
Travel Allowance – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$18,318
$31,310
$12,992 below the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$18,318
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$18,125
$43,715
$25,590 below the median of $43,715
Fares
$18,125
International Travel – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$9,870
$0
$9,870 above the median of $0
Parliamentary Delegations
$9,870
Telecommunications – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,304
$2,701
$1,603 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,406
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,898
Family or Nominee Travel – Meryl Swanson, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$1,168
$3,367
$2,199 below the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$1,102
COMCAR
$67
Total across all periods: $4,728,696 (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 – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$2,270,410
Printing and Communications
$1,993,547
Office Consumables and Services
$236,959
Specified Public Resources
$20,800
Publications
$13,551
Telephonic Services
$5,553
Office Facilities – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,317,560
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,317,560
Employee Travel – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$463,172
Domestic Travel
$463,172
Other Car Costs – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$226,661
Private-Plated Vehicle
$161,240
COMCAR
$65,327
Parking
$95
Travel Allowance – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$168,873
Travel Allowance
$168,873
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$150,430
Fares
$150,430
Telecommunications – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$59,499
Telecommunications - Usage
$46,851
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$12,648
International Travel – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$45,595
Parliamentary Delegations
$38,145
Representing Australia
$7,450
Family or Nominee Travel – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$18,962
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$17,300
COMCAR
$1,662
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$7,534
Parliamentary Duties
$7,125
Official Duties
$409
What’s included in these figures
The total for Meryl Swanson is the sum of all expenses charged to Meryl Swanson’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?
Meryl Swanson’s four-quarter total of $631,094 (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 $187,651, against an average of $157,774 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. Meryl Swanson’s total of $631,094 is $16,612 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 120th 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.” Meryl Swanson’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($310,047).
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 Meryl Swanson this came to $1,168 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.
