FSANZ Database Migration and Website Enhancements

FSANZ is a small government agency with limited internal capacity and relies on external providers for reliable, responsive website support. The FSANZ website is a critical channel for delivering authoritative food safety and standards information, attracting over 1.5 million visitors annually, including regulators, industry stakeholders and the general public.

This project aims to modernise FSANZ’s digital infrastructure by migrating key products to the Drupal platform and implementing essential design and technical improvements. The work will be delivered in phases to align with organisational priorities and budget, ensuring the website remains a modern, accessible government platform that meets user needs and complies with Australian Government digital standards.

The scope includes two major phases:

Phase 1 – Database and application migration

Migrate 3 legacy applications - the Nutrition Panel Calculator (NPC), Nutrient Profile Scoring Calculator (NPSC), and Australian Food Composition Database (AFCD) - into the FSANZ Drupal website. This will reduce cyber risk, streamline user experience and ensure sustainability within FSANZ’s digital ecosystem.

Key activities:

• Minimal interface change: Maintain existing functionality and business logic using current JavaScript.
• Data re-platforming: Move from SQL databases to datasets managed within FSANZ’s web stack; define update processes.
• Integration and testing: Ensure functional parity, accessibility compliance and security hardening; provide rollback plans.
• Deliverables: Migrated applications, dataset update guide, administrative documentation, test scripts and deployment notes.

Products to be migrated:

• NPC: Calculates nutrition information panels for food products using user-entered data; widely used for regulatory compliance. https://npc.foodstandards.gov.au/ManageRecipes.aspx
• AFCD: Provides detailed nutrient profiles for Australian foods; supports industry, research and public health. https://afcd.foodstandards.gov.au/
• NPSC: Determines eligibility for health claims under the Food Standards Code using a nutrient scoring algorithm. https://npsc.foodstandards.gov.au/

Related considerations:

• Terms and conditions redesign for improved UX.
• Better integration with related content (e.g., user guides) via navigation and search.
• Accessibility review and recommendations for future improvements.
• Support, maintenance and standards for JavaScript calculators.
• Support for future API-based data ingestion.

Phase 2 – Website enhancements

Enhancements to ensure FSANZ’s website remains modern, accessible and user focused. These improvements will strengthen compliance with Australian Government standards and deliver a better experience for stakeholders.

Key activities:

• Document and update components: Clean up and document component designs in Figma; review text styles, content blocks and colours across content types; implement best-practice guidelines; review presentation and functionality for images, file downloads and page dates.
• Refactor content blocks: Introduce structured fields for headings; migrate content from WYSIWYG editors; improve accessibility and semantic structure.
• Search improvements: Make search more prominent; improve relevance and design; enhance metadata for AI-driven features.
• Key redesigns: Refresh homepage and landing pages; update banners; improve prominence of food recalls; modernise layouts for usability.
• Information Architecture (IA) redesign: Light-touch review including proto-personas, tree testing, content audit and stakeholder workshops to improve navigation and wayfinding.

Scope confirmation

FSANZ has allocated a maximum budget of $100,000 (inclusive of GST) for this procurement. Vendors must provide a detailed, itemised cost breakdown for each phase, deliverable and activity within their proposal. FSANZ will use these itemised costings to prioritise and sequence work packages against the available budget.

The detailed scope of work for each phase will be confirmed and agreed upon during an introductory workshop following acceptance of the quotation. This workshop will ensure alignment on priorities, deliverables, timelines and dependencies before work commences.

Standards and compliance

All work must align with FSANZ’s accessibility, security and design standards - or document what is required to achieve compliance. Delivery must meet Drupal 11 readiness and consider Australian Government Digital Service Standards. Completion is required by 30 June 2026.

FSANZ website

• Drupal 11 compliant
• Responsive design and cross-browser compatibility
• Accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 Level AA)
• Integrations (Google Analytics)
• Solr search
• Platform.sh hosting
• Regular security assessments, patching and vulnerability management.