Meryl Swanson’s parliamentary expenses for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026): $674,906
(1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Meryl Swanson claimed $674,906 in parliamentary expenses over the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), which smooths out one-off quarters. That ranks 128th of 226 parliamentarians; the median is $704,511. Latest quarter (Jul–Sep 2026): $143,185. Largest categories: Office Administration ($340,464); Office Facilities ($175,538); Employee Travel ($72,937). 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.
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 latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026), compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Office Administration – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$340,464
$262,346
$78,118 above the median of $262,346
Printing and Communications
$289,248
Office Consumables and Services
$50,124
Publications
$1,092
Office Facilities – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$175,538
$188,110
$12,572 below the median of $188,110
Office Facilities - Not stated
$175,538
Employee Travel – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$72,937
$124,917
$51,980 below the median of $124,917
Domestic Travel
$72,937
Other Car Costs – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$32,119
$28,254
$3,865 above the median of $28,254
Private-Plated Vehicle
$24,277
COMCAR
$7,842
Travel Allowance – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$19,352
$34,320
$14,968 below the median of $34,320
Travel Allowance
$19,352
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$18,151
$45,732
$27,581 below the median of $45,732
Fares
$18,151
International Travel – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$9,870
$0
$9,870 above the median of $0
Parliamentary Delegations
$9,870
Telecommunications – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$4,069
$2,683
$1,386 above the median of $2,683
Telecommunications - Usage
$2,193
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,876
Family or Nominee Travel – Meryl Swanson, for the latest four reported quarters (1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026)
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$2,406
$1,839
$567 above the median of $1,839
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$2,194
COMCAR
$212
Total across all periods: $4,871,882 (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.
Office Administration – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$2,343,283
Printing and Communications
$2,050,522
Office Consumables and Services
$251,764
Specified Public Resources
$20,800
Publications
$14,643
Telephonic Services
$5,553
Office Facilities – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$1,363,242
Office Facilities - Not stated
$1,363,242
Employee Travel – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$473,255
Domestic Travel
$473,255
Other Car Costs – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$233,497
Private-Plated Vehicle
$167,036
COMCAR
$66,366
Parking
$95
Travel Allowance – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$172,769
Travel Allowance
$172,769
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$152,117
Fares
$152,117
Telecommunications – Meryl Swanson, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$60,391
Telecommunications - Usage
$47,424
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$12,967
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
$20,199
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$18,391
COMCAR
$1,808
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 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?
Meryl Swanson’s four-quarter total of $674,906 (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 $143,185, against an average of $168,727 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. Meryl Swanson’s total of $674,906 is $29,605 below the median of $704,511, which ranks 128th 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.” Meryl Swanson’s largest category over the window was Office Administration ($340,464).
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 $2,406 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.