Union Website Design Australia

Why union sites are different

Most web designers treat a union like a small business with a bigger logo. It isn't. The content splits between public advocacy and member-only material. Officers change at elections. Documents pile up — EAs, minutes, submissions, notices — and someone has to be able to find the current one. Every change goes past an executive, and the site has to be updatable by whoever is secretary this term, not just the person who built it.

The UFU Aviation Branch site was built for exactly these constraints and runs the branch's national campaigns today. I built it as a volunteer — a union member giving time to his own branch, not a contractor invoicing it — which is why it was designed around what officers and members actually need rather than what was easy to bill for. That structure is where every union build starts.

ufuav.asn.au/campaigns

Packages

Fixed prices, written so you can put them straight in front of your executive.

Rescue

For branches with an existing site that's outdated, slow, or impossible to update — but not worth throwing away.

$1,800 fixed

Live in 2–3 weeks

Full audit of what's there and what's broken
Modernised design on your existing content
Mobile fixed properly
Navigation and document structure cleaned up
Security, backups, and updates brought current
Search Console and analytics connected
Officer training so you can publish yourself

Ask about a rescue

Branch site

A full rebuild for a single branch or association. Everything a working union site needs, from scratch.

From $3,500 fixed quote

Live in 4–6 weeks

Up to 12 pages, fully custom design
News and updates section with automatic feeds
Campaigns hub with status tiers
Document library — EAs, minutes, submissions, notices
Password-protected member pages
Officer and committee contacts page
Forms for membership, direct debit, and enquiries
Full SEO setup, Search Console, analytics
Written posting guide and officer training

Get a branch quote

Multi-branch

For federal bodies, state unions with divisions, or associations with chapters and regional structures.

From $5,000 fixed quote

Timeline quoted to scope

Everything in Branch site
Delegate and committee directory
Tiered document access — public, member, delegate, exec
Branch or chapter locator for multi-site organisations
Connection to your membership system
Email campaign integration
Governance section — rules, elections, financial reports

Scope a multi-branch build

What goes into a union build

The modules I've built, refined on a live national branch, and reuse for yours.

Campaigns hub

Advocacy work organised by status — priority, active, monitoring, archived. Each campaign gets its own page for media, submissions, and resources. Update feeds fill themselves when you publish.

EA and bargaining hub

Current agreements, bargaining progress, and negotiation updates in one place. The newest document is always the one members see first.

WHS and notices

Health and safety notices, committee agendas and minutes, HSR resources — tagged on publish so they land in the right place automatically.

Member-only pages

A clear line between public advocacy and internal material. Situation reports, minutes, and peer support behind member access. Campaigns stay public.

Delegate and committee directory

Who represents whom, by station, region, or division. Updated by an officer in minutes when someone changes role.

Document library

Structured, searchable, and connected to the storage you already use. No more emailing PDFs around because nobody can find the current version.

Governance section

Rules, election notices, financial reports, and officer contacts — the material a registered organisation has to keep accessible, presented properly.

Publishing your officers will use

One post, tagged correctly, and every relevant feed updates. A written posting guide means the process survives the next election.

How it runs, exec to launch

Written for how a branch actually makes decisions.

Before your meeting

A quote your executive can approve

Fixed price, fixed scope, in a one-page document you can table as-is. If it needs to go to BCOM or a state council first, I'll write it for that audience.

Week 1

Brief with the secretary and one officer

What the site needs to do, what's public and what's member-only, who publishes. The brief is short because the structure is already proven.

Weeks 2–4

Design, build, preview

You see a design before anything is built. Then a preview link your executive can review on their own time — no live demos in a meeting.

Launch

Go live, train, hand over

Officer training, a written posting guide, and a clean handover. The site belongs to the branch, not to me.

Ongoing

Care plan, if you want it

Hosting, security, backups, and help publishing — month to month, cancel any time. Or take it in-house.

Ongoing care for union sites

Month to month. No lock-in.

Standard

$250 per month

For branches that publish themselves

Managed hosting, security, and daily backups
Plugin and platform updates tested before applied
Up to 3 hours of changes per month
Priority turnaround, phone and email

Publishing support

$400 per month

For branches that want a hand publishing

Everything in Standard
Up to 6 hours per month — I post campaign material, updates, and documents when you send them
Same-day turnaround on campaign updates
Quarterly review of structure and content

Questions branches ask

Who owns the site?

The branch does. Domain in the branch's name, content and design yours on final payment. If you're on a care plan I host it; if you leave, you get a full export and credentials within seven days. It's in the agreement.

Can our officers really update it themselves?

Yes. The site is built so publishing is one post with the right tag. I train your officers and leave a written guide so the process survives the next election.

We're interstate. Does that matter?

No. I'm in Adelaide, but every build runs on preview links, video calls, and email. Federal bodies, interstate branches, and cross-state organisations are all fine.

We need it approved by the executive first.

Expected. I'll give you a one-page fixed quote written for that purpose. No pressure and no expiry date that forces a decision before your next meeting.

Can it connect to our membership database?

Usually. I've integrated with FileMaker, Google Workspace, and Mailchimp on a live branch site. Tell me what you run and I'll tell you what's possible.

"He took an outdated site and turned it into something cleaner, more functional, and more user-friendly. The whole process was straightforward and the end result better reflects our organisation."

Wes Garrett Branch Secretary, United Firefighters Union — Aviation Branch

A union website your officers can run without calling anyone