Frequently Asked Questions

I noticed an error! What can I do?

The data on ParlEx is parsed out of the parlimentary expense report PDFs published by the Department of Finance.

Since the original reports themselves aren't formatted in a way that's easily machine interpretable, a lot of logic has had to go in to coax our software to understand the text. There may be some errors in the data as a result!

I'm in the process of building an error reporting functionality. But for now, pop me an email at [email protected] or let me know via Twitter (@jxeeno) if you noticed anything.

Can I use this data for my own purposes?

Yes! The parsed data on ParlEx is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia License. You can share and re-use this data as long as you attribute it to us (and the Department of Finance) and also allow re-sharing of the data.

The original data is provided by the Department of Finance under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia license.

Can I get a copy of the data in a spreadsheet or something?

You can download a copy of the data from the data GitHub repository. It's recommended that you subscribe to the mailing list as well to ensure you're notified of any data corrections. See the GitHub readme for instructions.

What's missing?

At the moment, ParlEx doesn't show any of the following expenses:

• Overseas Travel
• Family Travel Costs
• Office facilities
• Office Administrative Costs
• Telecommunications

The data has been processed but we're still working on a way to display them in a meaningful way.

Known Problems

As problems are fixed, they will show up in the changelog.

• Multi-sector charter flights weren't processed correctly and aren't currently showing up
• Some "cancellation fees" aren't being picked up. Items are still showing up as billed, but not being flagged as a cancellation fee.
• Some expenses are missing where the page contains cells which span over multiple lines.
• Some destinations for chartered flights are missing.

How can I help?

I'd love some feedback. If things aren't quite working as you'd expect or you have some ideas about additional features like graphs, charts and more advanced filters — please let me know! Pop me an email at [email protected] or let me know via Twitter (@jxeeno) if you have any suggestions.

You might also want to donate via PayPal.