Software produced by a little-known Australian developer has helped journalists piece together news leads from the mountains of data found in the contents of the Panama Papers, one of the biggest document leaks in history.

Sydney-based Nuix donated its document analysis programme to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to sift through the millions of leaked documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

The Panama Papers include 2.6 terabytes of data including emails, images, PDFs and other documents and raise questions about the financial arrangements of high profile politicians and public figures through the use of offshore companies.