Public ASX100 APIs: The Essential List

We’ve conducted some initial research into the public APIs of the ASX100 because we regularly have conversations about what others are doing with their APIs and what best practices look like. Being able to point to good local examples and explain what is happening in Australia is a key part of this conversation.

Method

The method used for this initial research was to obtain a list of the ASX100 (as of 18 September 2020). Then work through each company looking at the following:

1. Whether the company had a public API: this was found by googling “[company name] API” and “[company name] API developer” and “[company name] developer portal”. Sometimes the company’s website was navigated or searched.
2. Some data points about the API were noted, such as the URL of the portal/documentation and the method they used to publish the API (portal, documentation, web page). 
3. Observations were recorded that piqued the interest of the researchers (you will find these below).
4. Other notes were made to support future research.
5. You will find a summary of the data in the infographic below.

Data

With regards to how the APIs are shared:

• Documentation is where just the Swagger/OpenAPI docs are hosted somewhere. e.g. //api.linkgroup.com/member/docs/index 
• Portal is where an interactive portal has been developed. e.g.
• The web page is where the company has a single page that isn’t interactive explaining their Public APIs. e.g.

Observations

When putting together the data, there were some interesting observations:

• It was hard to find and understand WiseTech’s product APIs. The only thing was a video of their eAdaptor. This experience was somewhat surprising given their status as a leading Australian tech company.
• Cleanaway (a waste services company) provides an API for its partners (mostly councils it seems) where you can track waste collection services in real-time.
• Carsales.com.au has no API, at least not one that was as easy to find as one would expect from a digital-native company.
• Couldn’t find Bank of Queensland’s Open Banking API (are they in breach of APRA or ACCC regulations?).
• Of the financial institutions that have an API, many have done the bare minimum to implement open banking. Throwing up a static webpage for documentation that lists the endpoints available but provides no other information on how to work with it. Is this in the spirit of Open Banking?
• Coles didn’t have a public API, whereas Woolworths did.
• With almost 40% of the list being industrials, mining and real estate, it’s understandable why a minority of ASX100 companies have a public API. These industries don’t really have a strong case for a public API.

If you want to download the list, here is the to access the data.

Previously published at