Position: Minister for Foreign Affairs; member of Cabinet; Leader of the Government in the Senate
Penny Wong is Minister for Foreign Affairs; member of Cabinet; Leader of the Government in the Senate. Penny Wong claimed $1,998,670 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 3rd of 224 parliamentarians; the median is $647,706. Latest quarter (Apr–Jun 2026): $483,169. Largest categories: Employee Travel ($1,138,969); Office Facilities ($312,087); International Travel ($296,721). 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: Minister (cabinet or outer ministry)
8
$1,365,453
$633,217 above this group's median of $1,365,453
State: SA
12
$512,142
$1,486,528 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.
Penny Wong's total in each category over the 2025–26 financial year, compared with the median of all sitting parliamentarians in that category.
Employee Travel – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Employee Travel
$1,138,969
$114,932
$1,024,037 above the median of $114,932
Domestic Travel
$732,686
International Travel
$406,283
Office Facilities – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Facilities
$312,087
$183,185
$128,902 above the median of $183,185
Office Facilities - Not stated
$312,087
International Travel – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
International Travel
$296,721
$0
$296,721 above the median of $0
Ministerial Visits
$296,721
Office Administration – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Office Administration
$88,365
$221,473
$133,108 below the median of $221,473
Printing and Communications
$72,259
Office Consumables and Services
$12,586
Publications
$3,519
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$76,862
$43,715
$33,147 above the median of $43,715
Fares
$76,862
Other Car Costs – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Other Car Costs
$40,386
$27,108
$13,278 above the median of $27,108
COMCAR
$23,749
Private-Plated Vehicle
$16,637
Travel Allowance – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Travel Allowance
$35,788
$31,310
$4,478 above the median of $31,310
Travel Allowance
$35,788
Telecommunications – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Telecommunications
$6,208
$2,701
$3,507 above the median of $2,701
Telecommunications - Usage
$4,978
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$1,230
Family or Nominee Travel – Penny Wong, 2025–26
Category
Amount
Median
Difference
Family or Nominee Travel
$3,285
$3,367
$82 below the median of $3,367
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$3,123
COMCAR
$163
Total across all periods: $10,750,634 (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 – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Employee Travel
$5,603,534
Domestic Travel
$4,636,401
International Travel
$967,133
Office Facilities – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Facilities
$2,134,413
Office Facilities - Not stated
$2,134,413
International Travel – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
International Travel
$923,253
Ministerial Visits
$858,890
Official Visits
$40,559
Parliamentary Delegations
$20,255
Representing Australia
$3,549
Office Administration – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Office Administration
$814,763
Printing and Communications
$661,847
Office Consumables and Services
$117,902
Publications
$31,389
Telephonic Services
$3,625
Scheduled Commercial Transport – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$588,408
Fares
$588,408
Other Car Costs – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Other Car Costs
$339,356
COMCAR
$188,292
Private-Plated Vehicle
$151,063
Travel Allowance – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Travel Allowance
$248,553
Travel Allowance
$248,553
Telecommunications – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Telecommunications
$76,915
Telecommunications - Usage
$65,725
Telecommunications - Residential - Official
$11,191
Family or Nominee Travel – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Family or Nominee Travel
$21,221
Scheduled Commercial Transport
$19,759
COMCAR
$1,462
Unscheduled Commercial Transport – Penny Wong, all periods
Category
Amount
Unscheduled Commercial Transport
$219
Parliamentary Duties
$181
Electorate Duties
$38
What’s included in these figures
The total for Penny Wong is the sum of all expenses charged to Penny Wong’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?
Penny Wong’s four-quarter total of $1,998,670 (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 $483,169, against an average of $499,668 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. Penny Wong’s total of $1,998,670 is $1,350,964 above the median of $647,706, which ranks 3rd 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.” Penny Wong’s largest category over the window was Employee Travel ($1,138,969).
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 Penny Wong this came to $3,285 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.
