How we measure

Text and words

We take each law's latest compilation from the Federal Register of Legislation in EPUB form, and split it into sections using the paragraph styles the Office of Parliamentary Counsel applies. A word is any run of characters between spaces, in the section's heading and text. Notes, tables of contents and endnotes are not counted.

The Constitution's figures cover the Constitution itself (sections 1 to 128 and the Schedule). The nine covering clauses of the Act that contains it are counted separately.

Compilations and amendments

A compilation is the text of a law as in force for a period. The Register lists, for each compilation, the laws that changed it. We count compilations and amending laws as the Register reports them.

Referendums

Dates, subjects, national results and the States in favour are from the AEC's fact sheet on past referendums. State percentages are from the Parliamentary Handbook. A proposal is carried when a majority of all voters and a majority of voters in at least four States vote yes. The results for the 2023 referendum are from the AEC's official count.

Questions that need judgement

As we add Acts, some questions can't be answered by counting alone, such as whether an offence protects an identifiable person. For these, we will publish each question, the answer for every law, the words of the law the answer rests on, and how the answer was reached, including where an AI model drafted it and how often our own review agreed with it.