The UK Guardian's data blog has set a benchmark for the use of data in reporting. It is pleasing to see the Canberra Times taking a leaf out of their book.

The Big Spend uses data to provide an interactive view of the more than half a billion dollars Australian government agencies spent on consultants between 2008 and 2011.

The Department of Defence was the biggest outsourcer (paying out almost $300 million) and KPMG scored the most loot - almost $100 million. That's a lot of advice.

The data tables belong to the story Labor spending billions on advice by Edmund Tadros and Markus Mannheim.

For the story, Edmund Tadros analysed almost 18,000 contracts between 2008 and 2011. The data excludes the details of some contracts where agencies argued that "the information is genuinely sensitive and harm is likely to be caused by its disclosure".