Staff and advisers

Personal staff positions in the Prime Minister's office Official figures

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Government

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ministers, assistant ministers, units, envoys, whips

Opposition

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leadership, shadow ministers, whips

Crossbench

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Greens, One Nation, independents and others

Cost of all MOP(S) Act staff

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Finance, estimated actual

Read this first

Ministers' offices help run departments. A minister's staff work across the portfolio's departments and agencies, so a bigger portfolio usually means a bigger office.
The Prime Minister of the day sets the numbers, for every office: government, opposition and crossbench (Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984, s 4).
These are positions, not people, and each table is a snapshot on one date. Fractions are part-time positions.
Every figure comes from official documents: Department of Finance tables tabled at Senate Estimates, Finance's Budget papers and Remuneration Tribunal determinations. Each one is linked below with its page.
Not counted here: the five or more electorate officers every MP and senator gets, and departmental liaison officers (public servants).

Staff by office

Who has the most staff

Government, opposition, crossbench

Side by side

Earlier tables

Since 2007 (Parliamentary Library)

Prime Minister's office over time

Howard to Albanese

Table view

Gaps are dates where we haven't found a tabled table yet (mid-2009 to 2012, 2015 to 2017). Classification names changed in 2025; the count of positions is comparable across the series, the seniority mix isn't.

Total staff cost

What all MOP(S) Act staff cost

What they're paid

Parliamentary pay

Consultants and advisers outside Parliament

Government contracts for advice

All government contracts on the Contracts page

Sources and downloads

Where every number comes from

staff_offices_v2.csvevery office, 1 Oct 2026
staff_pm_office_history_v2.csvPM's office, 2007 to 2026
staff_groups_v2.csvgovernment, opposition, crossbench
staff_cost_v2.csvtotal staff cost by year
staff_pay_v2.csvsalaries by office
staff_v2.jsoneverything, with page references

All sources (…)

See also Assumptions and Data. Found an error? Tell us.