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About IPEA

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The Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) was established following the Prime Minister’s announcement of changes to parliamentarians’ work expenses on 13 January 2017.

On 1 July 2017, IPEA was established as a Commonwealth statutory authority under the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority Act 2017 (IPEA Act). This represented Australian Government progress towards the most significant reforms to parliamentarians' work expenses in 25 years.

IPEA is an independent statutory authority with advisory, reporting and auditing responsibilities for the work expenses of parliamentarians, and the staff they employ under the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984 (MOP(S) Act).

IPEA functions

IPEA has the following functions:

  • Giving advice to parliamentarians and MOP(S) Act staff about travel expenses and travel allowances.
  • Monitoring the travel expenses and travel allowances of parliamentarian and MOP(S) Act staff.
  • Preparing regular reports relating to:
    • all work expenses, travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by parliamentarians
    • travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by MOP(S) Act staff.
  • Conducting audits relating to:
    • all work expenses, travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by parliamentarians
    • travel expenses and travel allowances claimed by MOP(S) Act staff.
  • Processing claims relating to travel expenses and travel allowances of parliamentarians and their staff.

Organisational structure

IPEA's organisational structure helps it deliver its functions. IPEA is also guided by independent Members of the Authority appointed by the Governor-General, with each member having a range of relevant skills and experience. For further information visit the  IPEA Leadership webpage.

  • Chief Executive Officer Annwyn Godwin
    • Travel, Education and Advice, Christina Grant
      • Travel Advice
      • Travel Allowances
      • Travel Supplies
      • International
    • Corporate, Governance & Strategy, Michael Frost
      • Finance & Risk
      • ICT
      • Secretariat
      • Human Resources
      • Communications & Media
    • Transparency, Assurance & Legal, Nicole Pearson
      • Audit & Assurance
      • Data & Reporting
      • Legal

IPEA Corporate Plan

The Corporate Plan 2022–23 [PDF 889KB] for IPEA, in accordance with the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013.

Child Protection- Annual child safety statement of compliance

IPEA has a zero tolerance approach to child exploitation or abuse and we are committed to promoting and maintaining a culture that provides a safe environment for all.

IPEA is committed to, and compliant with, the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework.

The nature of our work means there is limited, if any, interaction with children across the scope of our business activities and functions.

Given the nature of the interactions, IPEA has assessed the risk to child safety as Low.

Last updated: 11 October 2022 

Employment at IPEA

IPEA is a statutory authority of around 60 employees. To join the team please check the Employment page on a regular basis for any current vacancies .

Service level standards

Travel—advice

  1. All calls are acknowledged, with 95% of calls acknowledged within 1 day.(a) This is measured bi-monthly using call system statistics.
  2. All requests for advice are resolved, with 95% of requests for advice resolved within 2 days.(a)(b) This is measured bi-monthly using call system statistics.
  3. Quality and accuracy levels for advice are achieved, with 95% of advice provided being accurate and of a high quality. This is measured with a sample check of advice.
  4. 80% of client survey respondents are satisfied with IPEA’s advice as measured in the IPEA client satisfaction survey.

(a) During hours: 9am to 5pm—Monday-Friday AEST/ADST (except for public holidays).
(b) Except where IPEA is waiting on essential information from 3rd party providers.

Travel—claims processing

  1. Travel claims are assessed weekly to verify 95% have been processed within an average of 7 working days and with a 90% degree of accuracy.(a)
  2. Requests for additional travel claim information (e.g. where the claim is incomplete) are sent within an average of 4 working days of receiving the initial claim.(b) This is measured monthly using a sample check of all requests.
  3. 90% of travel-related budgets are disseminated by the third week of June.(b) New parliamentarians commencing after 1 July receive their budget/s within one week of official commencement.(b)
  4. 80% of client survey respondents are satisfied with IPEA’s travel claim processing as measured in the IPEA client satisfaction survey.

(a) Incorrect/incomplete claims are not included.
(b) Except where IPEA is waiting on essential information from 3rd party providers.

Data and reporting

  1. 95% of expenditure and ad hoc reports are provided to current and former parliamentarians in accordance with our reporting schedule.(a)(b)
    • Expenditure reports are provided on a quarterly basis in accordance with the expenditure reports schedule
    • Ad hoc reports are provided within 5 working days, or another timeframe as agreed.
  2. 95% of expenditure reports and associated data are published on the IPEA website and data.gov.au in line with our publication schedule.(c)
  3. 80% of client survey respondents are satisfied with IPEA’s reports as measured in the IPEA client satisfaction survey.

(a) Dependent on ICT and data availability.
(b) Does not include time waiting for 3rd party data.
(c) IPEA website and data.gov.au website are available.

Audit and assurance

  1. Authority—an assurance activity will be conducted within the limits of IPEA’s statutory authority, as outlined in the IPEA Act.
  2. Accuracy and Completeness—an assurance activity will be based on accurate and comprehensive data as is reasonably possible to obtain.
  3. Procedure—an assurance activity will withstand scrutiny of its processes, in particular its observance of procedural fairness.
  4. Time—an assurance activity will be completed within a timeframe appropriate to its scope, the information available and the nature of the interaction with the assurance activity subject(s).

Entity contract list

Pursuant to the Senate Order for non-corporate Commonwealth entity contracts relating to the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022, IPEA has no non-procurement contracts to report with consideration to the value of $100,000 or more (GST inclusive).

Estimated cost of complying with this order was $50 and the method used to estimate this cost was based on the number of hours spent on compiling this information by IPEA staff.

IPEA procurement contracts can be found through the Senate Order button on the AusTender website. The report is titled ‘Senate Order on Confidentiality in Procurement Contracts by Entity’.

Remuneration paid to executives

Executive remuneration from 2018–19 onwards is included in IPEA’s annual reports.