Ellie Whiteaker claimed $587,224 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 146th of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $213,395. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($174,630); Office Facilities ($113,596); Office Administration ($109,982). 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
$90,793 above this group's median of $496,431
State: WA
12
$602,465
$15,241 below this group's median of $602,465
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.
Ellie Whiteaker's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$174,630
$114,932
$59,698 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$174,630
Office Facilities – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$113,596
$183,185
$69,589 below the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$113,596
Office Administration – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$109,982
$221,473
$111,491 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$90,547
Office Consumables and Services
$18,172
Publications
$1,263
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$94,771
$43,715
$51,056 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$94,771
Family or Nominee Travel – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$33,641
$3,367
$30,274 above the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$32,995
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$429
COMCAR
$218
Travel Allowance – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$33,125
$31,310
$1,815 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$33,125
Other Car Costs – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$22,516
$27,108
$4,592 below the median of $27,108
Private-Plated Vehicle
$12,637
COMCAR
$9,879
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$2,678
$378
$2,300 above the median of $378
Parliamentary Duties
$2,678
Telecommunications – Ellie Whiteaker, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$2,284
$2,701
$417 below the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,821
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$464
Total across all periods: $587,224 (1 Jul 2025 – 30 Jun 2026, 4 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 – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$174,630
Domestic Travel
$174,630
Office Facilities – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$113,596
Office Facilities - Not stated
$113,596
Office Administration – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$109,982
Printing and Communications
$90,547
Office Consumables and Services
$18,172
Publications
$1,263
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$94,771
Fares
$94,771
Family or Nominee Travel – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$33,641
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$32,995
Cabcharge / Other Car Costs
$429
COMCAR
$218
Travel Allowance – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$33,125
Travel Allowance
$33,125
Other Car Costs – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$22,516
Private-Plated Vehicle
$12,637
COMCAR
$9,879
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$2,678
Parliamentary Duties
$2,678
Telecommunications – Ellie Whiteaker, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$2,284
Telecommunications - Usage
$1,821
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$464
What’s included in these figures
The total for Ellie Whiteaker is the sum of all expenses charged to Ellie Whiteaker’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?
Ellie Whiteaker’s four-quarter total of $587,224 (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 $213,395, against an average of $146,806 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. Ellie Whiteaker’s total of $587,224 is $60,482 below the median of $647,706, which ranks 146th 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.” Ellie Whiteaker’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($174,630).
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 Ellie Whiteaker this came to $33,641 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.
