Anika Wells

We estimate Anika Wells received a parliamentary salary of: $376,850

Based on the Remuneration Tribunal base salary of $239,270 plus any additional allowance for ministerial, shadow or office-holder roles held at time of generation.

• Latest quarter total: $510,169
• Travel Allowance: $13,654
• Printing and Communications: $73,968
• Publications: $594
• Office Consumables and Services: $3,928
• Private-Plated Vehicle: $4,717
• COMCAR: $7,916
• Telecommunications - Usage: $265
• Telecommunications - Residential - Official: $297
• Fares: $29,339
• Parliamentary Duties: $3,220
• Domestic Travel: $193,406
• International Travel: $39,011
• Ministerial Visits: $48,264
• Office Facilities - Not stated: $91,590

• Labor’s planned gambling ad limits have influencer ‘blind spots’, experts warn
• Fifteen-year-old Noah hasn’t been kicked off any social media platforms – he’s still fighting Australia’s under-16 ban in court
• Australia urged to offer to host 2027 Asian Cup amid uncertainty over Saudi Arabia event
• Labor’s plan to restrict gambling ads will reduce spending by just 0.8%, government analysis says
• Australia says it won’t raise drug prices after Trump’s 100% tariff on pharmaceuticals imported into US
• One Nation wins fourth seat in SA – as it happened
• Albanese announces crackdown on gambling ads, but falls well short of Labor’s own calls for total ban
• PM pledges to ‘do everything we can to protect Australia’ amid Iran fuel crisis – as it happened
• Australia wants to sell its social media ban to the world – but are the measures even working?
• Two-thirds of under-16s with accounts on Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok kept access despite ban

• Anika Wells refers herself to independent watchdog over expenses affair (2025-12-09)
  Michelle Grattan
  The embattled communications minister’s $95,000 flights to New York, among other travel perks and expenses, will be investigated.
• Tighter travel rules may be on the way, after Albanese seeks advice from watchdog (2025-12-12)
  Michelle Grattan
  Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appears to be starting to move towards some tightening of parliamentarians’ travel entitlements. After more than a week of controversy, Albanese on Friday said he had asked…
• Government to spend $11.3 billion over four years to fund 15% pay rise for aged care workers (2023-05-03)
  Michelle Grattan
  Treasurer Jim Chalmers said that “for too long, those working in aged care have been asked to work harder for longer without enough reward, but with this budget that changes”
• View from The Hill: in awkward timing, government ends energy rebate as it defends Wells’ spendathon (2025-12-08)
  Michelle Grattan
  Wells is the latest in a long line of politicians to find themselves falling foul not of the official entitlement rules, but the crucial pub test.
• Politics with Michelle Grattan: Sarah Hanson-Young on the social media ban as a risky ‘fake silver bullet’ (2025-12-08)
  Michelle Grattan
  The Greens’ senator says she’s worried kids will end up ‘in other online spaces that are even darker and more dangerous’ – and Australia should act on other options.
• Government’s preventative detention for ex-detainees who pose serious risks set to pass this week (2023-12-03)
  Michelle Grattan
  New preventative detention legislation will be brought into the Senate as an amendment. The changes will allow the preventative detention of those who are considered a terrorist risk.
• Albanese government to include YouTube in social media ban for under-16s (2025-07-29)
  Michelle Grattan
  The Albanese government will include YouTube accounts in its ban on access to social media for those under the age of 16.
• Report on social media age assurance trial says there is not a one-size-fits-all solution (2025-08-31)
  Michelle Grattan
  The government’s trial has found age-assurance for its under-16 social media ban can be done, however admitting it can’t be one-size-fits-all.
• Three early January polls have Labor down, but disagree on One Nation’s vote (2026-01-13)
  Adrian Beaumont
  While Labor’s support has flagged since the Bondi terror attacks, support for One Nation appears to be continuing to rise.
• Attorney-General Rowland to repay some travel money; cost of government’s battery subsidy scheme explodes (2025-12-14)
  Michelle Grattan
  As the expenses affairs continues to roll through the Albanese government with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland needing to repay some of the money she billed taxpayers.
• Government’s aged care report proposes older Australians pay more but eschews a levy (2024-03-11)
  Michelle Grattan
  A government-instituted Aged Care Taskforce has recommended older Australians should pay more of the cost of their aged care, while steering clear of politically fraught options.
• The new national plan for sport has no measurable targets - exactly how politicians like it (2023-12-13)
  Anthony Veal
  The government has released a discussion paper for the latest national sport strategy. Will this one be more effective than previous attempts? Probably not.
• Details on how Australia’s social media ban for under-16s will work are finally becoming clear (2025-09-16)
  Lisa M. Given
  New guidance for tech companies outlines how the government expects them to keep young people off their services.
• The Paris Olympics celebrated the gender-equal games. The picture isn’t so rosy for women Paralympians (2024-08-28)
  Georgia Munro-Cook
  Just 19% of women with disability are regularly involved in organised sport, which is a big concern nine years before the Brisbane Paralympics.
• How exactly would a Triple Zero custodian help prevent a repeat of the fatal Optus outage? (2025-09-24)
  Rob Nicholls
  There is no certainty a custodian would have prevented all of the risks from the Optus outage last week. But it might have helped.
• ‘Fixing the aged care crisis’ won’t be easy, with just 5% of nursing homes above next year’s mandatory staffing targets (2022-06-07)
  Nicole Sutton, Nelson Ma
  Only a fraction of aged care homes currently have staffing levels above the new minimum ratios that will be mandatory from next year.
• Optus Triple Zero outage has left multiple people dead. A telecommunications expert explains what went wrong – and how to fix it (2025-09-22)
  Mark A Gregory
  The outage has sparked fury and condemnation – and builds the case for stronger action against telcos.
• 4 in 10 nursing homes have a COVID outbreak and the death rate is high. What’s going wrong? (2022-07-28)
  Hal Swerissen
  Australia should have been better prepared for the predictable winter COVID wave in aged care.
• Should the Optus chief quit? These 5 fixes would do far more to stop another 000 failure (2025-09-26)
  Helen Bird
  It may be tempting to call for the chief executive to be sacked, but it would only let Optus off the hook. This is how to really hold them to account this time.
• eSafety boss wants YouTube included in the social media ban. But AI raises even more concerns for kids (2025-06-24)
  Tama Leaver
  AI is just one of the emerging threats online that won’t be tackled by the social media ban.
• Labor women make history by overtaking men in cabinet. So is the job done? (2025-05-25)
  Elise Stephenson, Blair Williams
  The Labor federal government will be the most diverse in history, driven by the influx of women members who outnumber the men in both caucus and cabinet.
• View from The Hill: Record 10 women in Albanese cabinet, and surprise move for Plibersek to environment (2022-05-31)
  Michelle Grattan
  Anthony Albanese has switched Tanya Plibersek from education to environment and promoted Clare O'Neil into the plum home affairs ministry in a 23-member cabinet that contains a record 10 women.
• View from The Hill: Albanese shifts Tanya Plibersek from environment, in favour of ‘can-do’ Murray Watt (2025-05-12)
  Michelle Grattan
  The prime minister’s new cabinet dumps a couple, promotes others and leaves some holding political short straws.
• Australia has more women in cabinet than ever before: what difference will diversity make? (2022-06-01)
  Louise Chappell, Claire Annesley
  For many years Australians cabinets lagged behind the rest of the world on gender equality. Now women make up almost half of cabinet and hold a string of key portfolios.
• Netballers may have a new pay deal, but the sport remains in a precarious position (2023-12-07)
  Hunter Fujak
  After a rocky few years, there’s a huge trust deficit between players and Netball Australia. This must be overcome to secure the sport’s future.
• Grattan on Friday: Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepares a new ‘growth’ script for his third budget (2024-03-07)
  Michelle Grattan
  If Jim Chalmers were in television, he’d be the presenter, key producer and the warm-up act. The Budget might be two months away, but Chalmers is preparing us for his night in the spotlight.
• Australia set to ban ‘nudify’ apps. How will it work? (2025-09-03)
  Nicola Henry
  Banning ‘nudify’ apps is an important step, but alone it won’t stop the harm they cause.
• Grattan on Friday: Climate bill front and centre when parliament starts but it’s the least of Albanese’s problems (2022-07-21)
  Michelle Grattan
  If you’re outside staring in, you’d probably say the Albanese government is looking good. If you’re inside gazing out, you’d likely think its challenges appear little short of dire. Next week the new parliament…
• Grattan on Friday: Albanese’s social media ban is bold reform, but it will take years to judge its real success (2025-12-11)
  Michelle Grattan
  In a week when teenagers started trying to flout new online bans, politicians proved it’s not just the kids who are good at finding ways to get around things.
• Grattan on Friday: As the government rejects Trump’s stands, Liberal leadership aspirant Andrew Hastie sounds decidedly Trumpian (2025-09-25)
  Michelle Grattan
  The prime minister avoided any major pitfalls during his week in the US. Back at home, the Liberal party’s infighting has shown no signs of stopping.