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Single Digital Presence

vic.gov.au

Free plan Open source WebAPISelf-hosted
Visit vic.gov.au
Spec score 8.1 #9 of 33 in Government Website Builders

What it is

Single Digital Presence (SDP) is a web publishing platform for Victorian Government websites, established on Drupal in 2016. Its CMS provides publishing tools, data collection forms, revision history, federated approvals and domain redirect management. Each website receives Google Analytics dashboards. The service also provides security assessments and updates, Drupal and Ripple upgrades, outage and update alerts, bot protection and disaster recovery. The Ripple design system supplies styles, components and patterns for Victorian Government branded digital products. SDP’s design framework states technical and design compliance to Level AA of the latest WCAG accessibility standards. Victorian public servants can access online content training, a help centre and a Community of Practice. Technical support covers website bugs, malfunctioning elements and CMS assistance; 24/7 emergency support applies to outages and emergencies covered by the service level agreement. The service runs over 140 instances across 60 sites. Creating a new section on vic.gov.au costs nothing and requires approval from the lead department’s Digital Management Committee. Independent websites or components require a quote after a requirements document; some features and services incur charges.

Spec sheet

What it does
Single Digital Presence is Victoria’s whole-of-government web publishing platform, with vic.gov.au as its main public implementation.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Purpose
SDP is a secure, scalable web publishing platform for consolidating, managing and developing Victorian Government websites.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Integrations
Salsa documents integrations with CKAN, Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Oracle, PayPal, Stripe, LDAP, Active Directory, Facebook and Twitter.Read 21 Oct 2026 · salsa.digital
Security
The service provides security assessments and updates, upgrades to Drupal and Ripple, outage and update alerts, bot protection and disaster recovery.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Support
The help centre covers CMS training, content, accessibility, analytics, SEO, release notes, site administration and developer guides.Read 21 Oct 2026 · digital-vic.atlassian.net
Founded
2016Read 28 Sep 2026 · vic.gov.au
Accessibility
Ripple components are designed for accessibility and are being updated toward the latest WCAG Level AA standards, although implementation choices still affect compliance.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Analytics
Each website receives Google Analytics dashboards.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
API and SDK extensibility
Tide’s public code includes API files and Composer installation, while Ripple supplies Vue/Nuxt components and public documentation.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
API architecture
Tide is described as a headless Drupal CMS with a central repository able to serve content to multiple sites and channels.Read 21 Oct 2026 · salsa.digital
Central website option
Agencies can publish on vic.gov.au using shared infrastructure, standard features and publisher training.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
CMS features
The Drupal CMS includes publishing tools and components, data collection forms, revision history, federated publishing approvals and domain redirect management.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Company fact
The Department of Government Services is a Victorian government agency created on 1 January 2023 and listed by LinkedIn with 1,001–5,000 employees.Read 21 Oct 2026 · dg.linkedin.com
Content governance
SDP provides content guidance, peer review against Victorian digital standards and a community of practice.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Custom website control
For an independent website, the organisation can choose whether SDP, the organisation or a vendor manages the technology and hosting.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Custom website option
Agencies with distinct requirements can use a custom SDP website with branding, data-control choices and developer documentation.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Data layer
A whole-of-government data layer can be used for custom requirements at extra cost.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Deployment scale
The service reports more than 140 instances operating across 60 sites.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Design system
Ripple is SDP’s front-end design system supplying shared styles, components and patterns.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Developer environments
Independent-site projects receive production, development and master environments, but content cannot be automatically promoted from development or master to production.Read 21 Oct 2026 · digital-vic.atlassian.net
Forms
SDP includes forms for collecting data.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Hosting
Fully hosted websites are offered as a chargeable service, with management possible by SDP, the agency or a vendor.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Independent-site setup
Independent sites require SDP developers to create the CMS and site administrators to configure taxonomy, users and redirects.Read 21 Oct 2026 · digital-vic.atlassian.net
Licensing
The Tide core repository is licensed GPL-2.0 and the MyVictoria components repository is Apache-2.0.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
Limit: accessibility implementation
Ripple’s built-in accessibility support does not guarantee compliance because content, customisation and interaction design affect the result.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Limit: eligibility
Independent custom websites are intended for eligible departments or agencies and require approved site-admin permissions.Read 21 Oct 2026 · digital-vic.atlassian.net
Limit: paid extras
Maps, search listings, the data layer, branding, content migration and hosting can incur additional charges.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Maps
A maps solution is available as an additional-charge feature.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Notable news: automated testing
Drupal.org published a 13 November 2023 case study describing SDP’s work to reduce manual testing through automation.Read 21 Oct 2026 · new.drupal.org
Notable news: VRQA migration
VRQA announced on 1 February 2024 that it had begun moving its website to SDP in stages.Read 21 Oct 2026 · www2.vrqa.vic.gov.au
Open-source structure
Drupal.org identifies SDP as three products: Bay on Lagoon, Tide as a Drupal distribution and Ripple with Nuxt as the presentation layer.Read 21 Oct 2026 · new.drupal.org
Paid services
Maps, targeted search listings, access to the WoVG data layer, bulk content migration, custom branding and hosted websites are listed as chargeable services.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Praise: centralisation
Salsa’s case study reports cost savings from one centrally supported platform and shared fixes, security work and features.Read 21 Oct 2026 · salsa.digital
Praise: high traffic
During COVID-19 briefings, SDP handled a reported 4,000% request increase to about 400,000 requests per minute after scaling and caching changes.Read 21 Oct 2026 · salsa.digital
Praise: navigation
The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority said moving its site to SDP would make regulatory information easier to navigate and understand.Read 21 Oct 2026 · www2.vrqa.vic.gov.au
Project budget
The original human-centred-design case study records a 12-month MVP schedule, a $450,000 budget and a 20-person team.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Project origin
The SDP project was established on Drupal in 2016.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Publishing tools
The platform includes unlimited account access to publishing tools and components intended for government publishing.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Ripple design system
Ripple is the open-source front-end design system for Victorian Government branded digital products and includes styles, components and patterns for SDP.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Scale
The platform supports more than 60 websites and over 120 vic.gov.au sections across 10 government departments.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Search
Targeted search listings are available as an additional-charge feature.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Security operations
The service states that it performs security assessments, software updates, bot protection, outage alerts and disaster recovery.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Self-hosting
The public MyVictoria components can be used in standalone Vue or Nuxt applications hosted on a standard web server.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
Support requests
The support desk accepts requests about outages, bugs, content issues, CMS access and analytics.Read 21 Oct 2026 · digital-vic.atlassian.net
Technical support
The help page directs users to SDP technical support for website bugs, malfunctioning elements or CMS assistance, with 24/7 emergency support for outages and emergencies covered by the service level agreement.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Technology
SDP was established on Drupal in 2016.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Training and publishing support
SDP provides online content training, a help centre and a Community of Practice for Victorian public servants.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Who it is for
The vic.gov.au option is described as ideal for most Victorian Government content, while custom websites are suited to organisations with specific needs or mature digital service capabilities.Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Workflow
Revision history and federated publishing approvals provide visibility into authorisation decisions.Read 21 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au

Plans and prices

Create a new section on vic.gov.au Free Requires approval from the lead department’s Digital Management Committee Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au
Independent website or building a component Priced on request Quote provided after requirements document; signed Memorandum of Understanding and Purchase Order required before project start Paid formal discovery requires written manager-level approval; some features and services incur charges Read 9 Oct 2026 · vic.gov.au

Every Single Digital Presence plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Includes publishing approvals and revision history.
  • Provides Google Analytics dashboards for each website.
  • Framework states WCAG Level AA compliance.
  • Offers training and a Community of Practice.
  • 24/7 emergency support is available for covered incidents.

Limits

  • New vic.gov.au sections require committee approval.
  • Some features and services incur charges.
  • Independent website pricing is provided by quote.

Who it suits

SDP is aimed at Victorian Government teams publishing and managing web content. The vic.gov.au option is described as suitable for most government content; custom websites suit organisations with specific needs or mature digital service capabilities.

Verdict

SDP combines government-focused publishing, design resources and support in a Drupal-based service. The free vic.gov.au option requires approval, while independent websites and some services may involve charges.

Where Specifiction places it

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