Methodology

1. Identifying the issues

We begin by identifying:

• the major issues impacting Australians — such as housing, cost of living and climate change; and
• the key policies proposed by parties and candidates in response to those issues.

To do this, we review:

• current polling and public opinion research
• news coverage and election announcements
• party and candidate election announcements and existing policy platforms
• election “asks” from civil society and other organisations
• relevant academic research and expert analysis

We then consult with academics, subject-matter experts and independent organisations to ensure the tool reflects both current evidence and Australians’ top priorities.

We include policies that:

• meaningfully address the issue at hand
• are supported by reasonable evidence (ideally from independent experts)
• enable constructive and informed debate
• do not actively harm communities

We cannot include every issue and policy without making the tool overly complex. Our aim is to strike a balance between depth and accessibility — exploring major issues in sufficient detail while keeping the tool usable and clear.

We will continue to refine this process to make it more transparent and deliberative.

2. Assessing parties and candidates

Build a Ballot calculates how closely a voter’s views align with parties and candidates in their electorate. To do this consistently, parties and candidates are assessed against a standardised set of policy statements. These policy statements mirror the policy options presented to users, but include more detail about scope and implementation, helping to ensure all candidates are responding to the same policy proposal.

2.1 Incumbent parties and candidates

For incumbents (those currently holding seats in the lower or upper house), agreement ratings are determined based on publicly available information, including:

• official policy documents
• parliamentary voting records
• media appearances and interviews
• public statements and social media posts

Our preliminary assessment is shared with the party or candidate, and two opportunities for feedback are provided before ratings are finalised.

Where an incumbent major party does not respond within the feedback window, and there is insufficient publicly available information on their jurisdictional website to determine a position, we may reference clearly articulated federal policy positions where there is strong evidence of alignment between federal and state branches. Any such inference will be clearly disclosed.

Where an incumbent minor party or independent candidate does not respond within the feedback window, and there is insufficient publicly available information to determine their position, their agreement rating will not be published in the tool until verified positions are provided.

This approach is designed to ensure that no party or candidate is disadvantaged in the match point calculation due to incomplete or unverifiable information. Because match points are calculated based on available policy statements, publishing partial data could inaccurately lower a party’s or candidate’s alignment with voters.

Where a party or candidate is not yet published in the tool, voters are encouraged to contact them directly to request they respond to our questionnaire.

2.2 Non-incumbent parties and candidates

Non-incumbents are invited to complete a questionnaire indicating their agreement rating for each policy statement, based on how they would approach the issue if elected.

All parties and candidates must provide evidence to support their stated agreement rating. Evidence may include:

• official policy documents
• public statements
• media appearances
• social media posts
• relevant organisational endorsements

Responses and supporting evidence are reviewed prior to publication. Where inconsistencies or insufficient evidence are identified, the party or candidate is given an opportunity to clarify.

If a party or candidate provides a response through our questionnaire but has not previously made a public statement on a policy, their response will be published on our website and treated as a public statement.

If a party or candidate specifically chooses not to provide a public response, they will be assessed as “N/A”, and will not be eligible to match with users on that policy.

2.3 Contact process

• All parties and candidates are contacted at least twice before the tool goes live
• Responses are uploaded on a rolling basis up until election day
• Candidates running under a political party are generally assessed based on their party’s centralised response. Where sufficient evidence demonstrates a different position (for example, crossing the floor), this will be reflected where possible.

3. Matching voters

When a user completes the questionnaire, their agreement ratings are compared with each party’s or candidate’s agreement ratings.

3.1 Calculating match points

Match points are allocated per policy as follows:

3.2 Overall match level

We calculate an overall match level as a percentage of the total available match points. To make results easy for the user to interpret, we use colour indicators:

• Above 70% match = green
• 40-69% match = yellow
• Below 40% match = red
• No information available = grey

4. Final step for voters

Build a Ballot is designed as a starting point.

Users are encouraged to conduct additional research and rearrange their ballot to ensure their final vote reflects their priorities. The final ballot order remains entirely at the voter’s discretion.

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