The Cost of Legacy CMS Platforms Is Adding Up
Why Councils Are Replatforming
Councils across Australia are reconsidering platforms like OpenCities, Squiz, and Sitecore due to rising costs, inflexible designs, and limited support. Many of these systems lock you into proprietary frameworks, with slow support cycles and little room to customise for your community's evolving needs.
Decode offers a better path — one that’s modern, fully accessible, and built with your future in mind.
Purpose-Built Websites That Support Your Community
Tailored for Local Government
- WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility compliance out of the box
- Drupal or WordPress CMS — your choice, fully owned and extendable
- Designed for councils: rates, pet registration, bin collection, and more
- Multilingual, mobile-friendly, and built for engagement
- Hosted securely in Australia with full data sovereignty
Who We’ve Helped
Trusted by Councils and Government Organisations
Decode works with councils and public sector organisations to deliver secure, compliant, and high-performance websites. Our team understands the complexity of council operations and designs digital experiences that make life easier for your staff and community.
The Decode Difference
A Partner Who Understands Local Government
- Melbourne-based development team with experience in council websites
- Transparent pricing and no lock-in contracts
- Full accessibility, compliance, and cybersecurity baked in
- Strategic input and ongoing support from a local team that cares
Let’s Talk About Your Website’s Future
Book a free audit of your current platform and get expert insights on cost savings, accessibility upgrades, and user experience improvements. Whether you're replatforming from OpenCities, Squiz, or just planning your next digital phase — we're here to help.
Our capabilities
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What our clients say about us
Frequently asked questions
Most council WordPress websites we build take 10–16 weeks from discovery to launch, depending on complexity, integrations, and stakeholder involvement. We follow a structured project approach with clear timelines, ensuring we meet all compliance, content migration, and accessibility requirements.
Yes. Decode provides dedicated support and maintenance packages for all council clients. This includes security updates, accessibility checks, content support, uptime monitoring, and access to our local support team for fast turnaround and peace of mind.
Absolutely. All websites we develop for councils are hosted in secure, Australian-based data centres to ensure full compliance with data sovereignty and privacy requirements. We also offer scalable hosting with SLAs and backups tailored for public sector standards.
Yes. Every site we build for councils meets WCAG 2.1 AA compliance by default. Accessibility is embedded into our design, development, and QA processes — not treated as an afterthought. We also conduct audits and user testing to ensure inclusivity for all users, including those with disabilities.
Yes — we’ve helped multiple councils successfully migrate content from platforms like OpenCities, Squiz and Sitecore into WordPress. We ensure content structure, metadata, redirects, and accessibility are preserved or improved during the transition.
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