How our guides are written and kept current.
NestWise guides explain Australian payments, subsidies, tax and family paperwork in plain English. This is how we write them, where the facts come from, and how we keep them right.
What you can count on
Who writes the guides
Every guide is written and maintained by NestWise, and each one is published under the NestWise name. NestWise was built by a Chartered Accountant and busy mum, and the guides are written for families working through the same questions.
More about why NestWise exists is on our about page.
Sources we rely on
A rule or a figure in a guide traces back to an official source. The sources we use are:
- Services Australia (servicesaustralia.gov.au), for payments, subsidies and how to claim them.
- The DSS guides (guides.dss.gov.au): the Family Assistance Guide, the Social Security Guide and the Child Support Guide, which set out how the rules are applied.
- The ATO (ato.gov.au), for income tax, deductions, super and the Medicare levy.
- Legislation, through the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au).
- State and territory government sites, for programs such as kindergarten funding, sport vouchers and concessions.
- Other Australian Government sources where they are the authority, such as the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Moneysmart.
Guides on grief and pregnancy loss also point to established national support organisations. The full list of official sources is on our sources page.
How NestWise is paid for
NestWise is paid for by its members through the Family plan. We do not publish sponsored content, we do not use affiliate links, and we earn no commission or referral fee from any fund, insurer, lender, provider or product mentioned in a guide.
NestWise does not recommend a super fund, insurance policy, loan or other financial product.
General information, not advice
Guides describe how Australian rules generally apply. They do not take your full circumstances into account and are not financial, tax or legal advice. Before you claim, lodge or make a big decision, check with Services Australia or the ATO, or speak with a licensed adviser or registered tax agent. Tools, not advice explains this in more detail.
How guides are kept current
- Figures come from one catalog. Where a guide quotes a rate, threshold or cap, the figure is filled in from the same rate catalog the calculators use. When a rate changes in the catalog, the guide changes with it. How we calculate explains the catalog and its checks.
- Automated checks on every change. Each time NestWise's code changes, checks look for a guide still quoting a figure the catalog has moved past, and for rates typed into a guide by hand.
- Links checked nightly. Every night, a check confirms the official pages our guides link to can still be opened.
- A scheduled review twice a month. On the 2nd and 22nd of each month, a review compares what the guides say against the rules NestWise calculates with. Anything it finds is reported to the team to check, rather than changed automatically.
Every guide shows the date it was last updated. If something looks wrong, our corrections page explains how to tell us.