'Data is not the new oil, but the new soil', the journalist and designer David McCandless said. This was the philosophy that RMIT journalism students used to look at data in Australia: how do we use data journalism to help grow a better understanding of Australia in the era of digital information?

In other words, how do we use the latest techniques in data crunching, scraping and visualisation to help our audience navigate through the information highways and gain a better understanding of their world?

Using their data skills, these young journalists look at a range of issues in Australia ranging from strategic oil reserves, gambling and racism through to spirituality and where and when to spot butterflies in Melbourne.

No matter the issue, they all went deeper and looked wider to turn numbers, statistics and databases into informative and beautiful little stories that go beyond stereotypes and provide insight for their audience.

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