Can your website do what you need on GovCMS?
GovCMS(Opens in a new tab/window) takes a lot off your plate. It's the whole-of-government hosting and content management service managed by the Department of Finance, built on Drupal. On a SaaS plan, GovCMS looks after the hosting, the Drupal security updates and the security accreditation. In return, your site works within the platform's rules: it uses the modules in the GovCMS distribution, and a module from outside it means moving to PaaS, where your agency looks after the application itself.
That's usually where the questions start. A migration is coming, with years of pages, documents and links that people rely on. Someone has asked for a feature that seems to need a custom module. You're weighing up SaaS against PaaS, or planning a new design on CivicTheme. Or your site is on PaaS, and you need a team to keep it updated and secure.
We know GovCMS from the inside, so we plan your site around the platform's rules from day one and tell you early what fits on SaaS, what needs PaaS and how your content will get across.
How we build on GovCMS
Whether it's a new site or a move onto the platform, the work follows the same 5 steps.
1. We work out which hosting model suits your site
GovCMS has 2 hosting models. Both include Drupal hosting, infrastructure maintenance and backups. They differ in who looks after the application and how far you can customise it.
| SaaS | PaaS | |
|---|---|---|
| Drupal security updates and application maintenance | GovCMS | Your agency, or a team you appoint |
| Modules | The modules in the GovCMS distribution | A wider set, including custom modules |
| Getting the site IRAP assessed | Covered by GovCMS | Arranged by your agency |
| Web protection: a content delivery network, firewall and DDoS protection | Included | Optional |
SaaS is the lighter load for your team. PaaS suits a site that needs code outside the distribution, and it comes with more to look after. We'll recommend the model we'd choose for your site and explain why.
2. We set up your project
We start from the GovCMS scaffold for your hosting model, the starting codebase GovCMS publishes, so the site deploys the way the platform expects. We build in a GovCMS sandbox, or off the platform and move the finished site in, which GovCMS calls a forklift. A forklift needs at least 10 business days' notice, and GovCMS checks the site before it goes into production, so we plan for it from the start.
3. We build within the platform's rules
On SaaS, most of the work goes into configuration and the theme. Where it helps, editors control page layouts through the content itself, so a layout change doesn't wait for a developer. Features that can't run inside a SaaS site, such as a mailing list sign-up, connect to outside services.
On PaaS, we write the custom modules your site needs and cover them with automated tests, so each release is checked before it goes out. On either model, the design can use CivicTheme, the open-source design system we created, or a theme of your own.
4. We move your content across
When a site moves onto GovCMS, the content is often the biggest job. We script the migration so it can run as often as needed, check what lands against the source and redirect your old page addresses, so existing links still reach the right page. If the migration needs custom code a SaaS site can't run, we'll show you the options, such as running it as a separate project.
5. We take it live and keep it current
Every new GovCMS environment sits behind a shield, a password prompt that keeps it private. At launch, we work through the last steps with your team and GovCMS, from the DNS change to lifting the shield. After that, a support plan keeps the site in step as GovCMS moves to new Drupal versions, and on PaaS it covers the security updates too.
What you get
Everything we build ends up in your agency's GovCMS project, so it stays yours whoever looks after the site next.
A site built for your hosting model
We hand over a working site built to the rules of SaaS or PaaS, with its content model, theme, search, menus, editorial workflow and roles in place. Your editors run it day to day, and your developers, or ours, can extend it.
Your content, moved and checked
If you're moving onto GovCMS, you get the scripted migration, a comparison of what landed against the original, and redirects from your old addresses. Your content owners see the results before launch, so they can check their own sections.
Documentation and a handover
You get notes on how the site is put together and how changes are released, written for whoever looks after it next, and we walk your editors and developers through them.
Where we've done this
We've worked on GovCMS at both levels: on the platform itself, and on the sites agencies run on it.
- We delivered Australia's first Docker-based government Drupal site, for the Victorian government, and took the same approach again for GovCMS. From 2018 to 2020 we worked with Salsa Digital on the DevOps for the GovCMS platform migration onto Lagoon. That included the automated workflow that moved SaaS and PaaS sites across, which we presented at DrupalSouth in 2018(Opens in a new tab/window).
- For a federal department, through a partner agency, we built 3 GovCMS SaaS sites in 2019 and 2020. They included the department's main public website, still being maintained and upgraded 3 years after we handed it over. Its content migration needed custom code that a SaaS site can't run, so we ran the migration as a separate PaaS project and landed the content in the SaaS site.
- We moved 2 public websites onto GovCMS PaaS for a state government regulator in 2020 and 2021, again through a partner agency. We reconciled published documents against the regulator's records management system and kept the old web addresses, so links and citations to published decisions would keep working. We also built the migration so it could be re-run without republishing anything an editor had taken down.
- When an independent federal statutory body moved its GovCMS SaaS website onto CivicTheme in 2023, we were brought in for a short engagement on the move, and set up its CivicTheme sub-theme and configuration.
What it costs
Your GovCMS subscription(Opens in a new tab/window), paid to GovCMS, covers hosting and the platform services in your plan. Work on the site itself is separate, and we price ours like this:
| Work | How it's priced |
|---|---|
| Building a new GovCMS site, or moving an existing site onto GovCMS | An estimate before any work starts, or a fixed-price quote for the scope we agree |
| Support and upgrades after launch | A support plan: a prepaid block of hours, with a faster tier for urgent work |
| A site audit of a GovCMS site you already run | See our site audit page. The first step, a website health check, is free |
A fixed-price quote is the price. Where the scope can't be fixed up front, the estimate shows what we expect the work to take, and you're billed for the hours worked. Nothing starts until you've approved the scope and cost.
For development-heavy work such as a build or a migration, you can choose AI-assisted delivery, which costs up to 30% less on suitable work.
Where GovCMS work leads
A new look for a GovCMS site can be built on CivicTheme, and moving a site onto the platform is a migration. A PaaS site needs Drupal upgrades as new versions arrive. If you've taken over a GovCMS site, a site audit shows you where it stands, and a support plan keeps it looked after once it's live.
FAQs
Can you build custom features on GovCMS SaaS?
Yes, within the SaaS rules. We build features from the distribution's modules, configuration and the theme, and connect to outside services where that fits better. When a feature needs a custom module, it belongs on PaaS, and we'll tell you early if your site is heading that way.
Do you work on both SaaS and PaaS?
Yes. We've built and migrated sites on both. SaaS fits a site that can work with the modules in the GovCMS distribution. PaaS fits a site that needs more, as long as your agency is ready to look after the application and its security, including getting it IRAP assessed.
Can you implement CivicTheme on GovCMS?
Yes. We created CivicTheme, the open-source design system published by Salsa Digital, and were its founding technical lead from 2021 to 2025. It includes a companion module for GovCMS sites.
Can you move our existing site onto GovCMS?
Yes, from an older Drupal site or from another system. On SaaS, GovCMS arranges the move into production with you, and we get the site and its content ready for it.
How do you handle our data?
We sanitise every copy of your site's data with our own tooling before it's used outside the live site, whether for development, testing or support. If you choose AI-assisted delivery, AI tools only ever work with sanitised data. Our Responsible AI policy has the detail.
Do you work with digital agencies that build GovCMS sites for their clients?
Yes. We work directly with government teams, and as a named technical partner to digital agencies delivering GovCMS work.