Ready for Rules as Code (RaC)? Here are the five lessons every agency should learn before diving in.
After 18 months of exploration and experimentation, pushing the boundaries of what the technology can do, the Rules as Code sandpit project wrapped up in September 2025. We’re now taking what we have learned and moving towards delivering an enterprise-grade service for the Australian Government.
During the sandpit phase, we explored how Rules as Code can be used as an information source, a regulation compliance tool, a way to self-assess service eligibility, a tool for modelling the impact of policy changes, for calculations, and for linking third party software via APIs.
Each project expanded our knowledge and understanding of what can be achieved and taught us a valuable lessons we’re excited to share with our community.
1. Scope
To start a project in the best possible position, you need a strong scope. Define what you are trying to achieve, what rules will and won’t be included, who will be using the end product, the user journey, how far you want it to extend and the definition of done. Scope creep is the enemy of an efficient and effective project.
2. Information sources
Rules can be sneaky, hiding in all sorts of places. Finding all the relevant information in all the different legislative instruments is vital to having a trustworthy product that stands up to scrutiny. Terminology can also be inconsistent across sources. Agree key definitions early, for example “spouse”, “ordinary hours”, and “work week”, so you don’t get stuck going in circles.
3. Agency readiness
Implementing Rules as Code can be a significant shift in mindset and a willingness to explore new ways of working. Ensure decision‑makers understand what you are planning, why it matters, and how it will help the agency become more efficient, transparent and reliable.
4. Stakeholder engagement and communication
Rules as Code needs input from a wide range of stakeholders, including project managers, subject matter experts, developers, web managers, and service designers. Engaging the right people early and providing opportunities to learn, discuss and plan will help make your project run smoothly.
5. Support materials
Good support materials save time. Briefing notes, scope templates, security and technical documentation, information packs, and workshop notes and recordings help projects run smoothly and make it easier for others to build on the work later. Store these resources somewhere secure and easy to find.
Get in touch!
To learn more about what we’ve discovered through the sandpit project, or to explore whether Rules as Code is right for your agency in 2026, get in touch(Opens in a new tab/window) with us.