Work State Electricity Commission

State Electricity Commission · Energy and renewables

A state energy company’s website, from its first day to its third year

The SEC is Victoria’s government-owned renewable energy company, re-established in 2023. It needed a website before it had a product, and it has needed a bigger one every year since: for households going electric, for businesses buying renewable power, for the communities around its projects. Ladoo built the first site in eight weeks and has been its digital partner through every stage since.

State Electricity Commission website
8weeks from the first brief to launch in October 2023
3doors on the home page: households, businesses, investments
75news articles migrated to the new templates in 2026
2023partner from the organisation’s first day online
The situationA new state energy company that needed a public website for its first day, then a site that could grow with it.
Ladoo’s roleDesign and build of the first site, then Squiz DXP templates, a component kit, section rebuilds, migration and training.
PlatformSquiz Matrix, now Squiz DXP
WhenAugust 2023 to today
What came of it
  • The first website live in October 2023, eight weeks from the first brief
  • Home, Households and Business rebuilt on Squiz DXP components, with the interactive map kept
  • Seventy-five news articles migrated with their tags, and author training, in 2026

Talk about a site that has to growRead the full story

The brief

A new organisation with a lot to explain

In August 2023 the SEC was weeks old. It had a mandate, a brand and a launch date, and it needed a website that could explain a new state-owned energy company to Victorians, to industry and to the people who would work for it. The brief asked for a site that made information easy to find, that could grow as the organisation did, that sat in the Department’s Squiz Matrix environment, and that met Victorian Government digital standards and WCAG AA.

Ladoo planned an eight-week programme and delivered it. The site went live in October 2023 as a fast static build, and moved into Squiz Matrix the following week so the SEC team could publish. Three years on, the same site has absorbed a retail electricity business, a household electrification program and a portfolio of renewable energy projects.

The Households section on secvictoria.com.au
Households

Victorians going electric

People replacing a gas appliance, planning a whole-home switch or looking for help to pay for it. They arrive from a campaign, a bill or a search, and they want to know what to do next.

  • Why go electric, with the savings made plain
  • Products, installers and a finance provider comparison
  • A help centre and information sessions
The Businesses section on secvictoria.com.au
Businesses and investors

Customers, partners and communities

Since July 2025 the SEC has sold renewable electricity to Victorian Government sites, and now to commercial customers. Alongside them are the councils, landholders and communities around its wind farms, solar farms and batteries.

  • Energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers
  • A customer portal and a contact route that knows who you are
  • Project pages with updates, maps and community benefit funds
One site, five sections

Each section rebuilt as its audience arrived

The SEC did not launch with everything. Households came first, then the business offer, then the investment portfolio, each one restructured and moved onto Squiz DXP templates when it was ready. Pick a section to see it as it is today.

Pick a section. It cycles on its own until you do.

The households section on secvictoria.com.auThe businesses section on secvictoria.com.auThe investments section on secvictoria.com.auThe workforce section on secvictoria.com.auThe news section on secvictoria.com.au
Anatomy

What the Households section had to become

By late 2025 the Households content had outgrown the original site. Ladoo reviewed every page, audited seventeen component variants and recommended a new header, one set of calls to action, a proper landing page and an information sessions page. Three iterations later, this is it.

The Households section on secvictoria.com.au12345
  1. 1

    One header, with the section’s own navigation

    The old pages each had their own header style and headings that did not match the menu. One consolidated header now carries the section name, a highlight and sub-navigation.

  2. 2

    A landing page, not a background essay

    The section opens with short introductions and clear pathways: why go electric, calculate your savings, products, installers, help.

  3. 3

    Pathways that match the questions

    The content follows the stages a household goes through, from understanding usage to finding an installer, with a call to action at each step.

  4. 4

    Components from a kit

    Columns, accordions, highlight tiles and calls to action from one rationalised set, so the pages look like one section and authors have one way to build them.

  5. 5

    Information sessions, as a page

    Upcoming and past sessions on a permanent page in the navigation, instead of a registration form that went stale.

Three years

A site that grew with the company

Nothing here was a re-platform. Each step was a brief, a short piece of work and a release, as the SEC’s needs changed.

Thinking about something similar? Nathan reads every message and replies within a business day.Talk to Ladoo

How it stays simple

Why three years of change has not meant three rebuilds

Templates

One DXP template, section by section

The Households work produced the template and components. The home page, Business and the rest of the site moved onto it in turn, each one a two-week job.

Components

A kit, not a collection

Seventeen component variants became one set. New needs get a new component that every section can use, like the project timeline scoped for Investments.

Reuse

Keep what works

The interactive map, the FAQ pattern, the complaints form and the community fund listings were kept and placed where the new structure needed them.

People

Authors who publish

Training on the SEC’s own news and pages means the team publishes announcements, updates and new pages without waiting on a developer.

What Ladoo built

Six layers, one team

Every public website is a stack. These are the layers Ladoo has designed and built for the SEC, from the first eight-week site to the component kit the whole site now runs on.

From a launch in eight weeks to a kit the whole site runs on.Designed and built by one Ladoo team on Squiz Matrix and DXP

  1. InterfaceA mobile-first site stood up in eight weeks in 2023, now on Squiz DXP templates section by section
  2. ComponentsA rationalised component kit: one page header, one set of calls to action, and a small set of layouts: columns, accordions, tiles
  3. ContentHouseholds, Businesses, Investments, Workforce and News, each restructured as its audience grew
  4. ToolsA finance provider comparison with filters, an interactive map of projects, and personalised contact routes
  5. AuthoringTraining on real SEC content so the team publishes news and updates itself
  6. AccessibilityWCAG 2.1 AA, checked on every section as it moves across
How it ran

Eight weeks in 2023, then a brief at a time

Discovery and ideation

Needs analysis with the new team, a review of the material to hand, a content audit and early concepts, with wireframes and prototypes prepared quickly for a design presentation.

Design and definition

Information architecture, visual design for the home page and content pages, and a design system of grid, colour, type and modules with a defined content structure for each.

Delivery

Responsive front end, Squiz Matrix setup and modules, content integration, and quality assurance against WCAG 2.1 AA and Victorian Government standards.

Deployment, and every year since

Acceptance testing, a training session and go-live in October 2023. Since then, each change has come as a short brief and a release.

Straight answers

The questions we get asked about this project

Who hosts the site?

The Department does, in its Squiz environment, and its online services team supports it. Ladoo builds and configures within that environment and hands over documentation and training with each release.

How does a two-week job work?

A brief with requirements, scope and assumptions, a fixed estimate, then the work in a safe edit so the SEC reviews before anything goes live. Most pieces since 2024 have been two weeks or less.

Is it Matrix or DXP?

Both. The site launched on Squiz Matrix in 2023 and has moved onto Squiz DXP templates and components section by section since late 2025, without a cutover day.

Would this work for us?

If you are standing up a new organisation, or your site has to grow with one, and you would rather extend a site than rebuild it every few years, this is the shape. Talk to Nathan and he will tell you honestly.

Client
State Electricity Commission
Site
secvictoria.com.au
Sector
Energy and renewables
Platform
Squiz Matrix, now Squiz DXP
What we did
  • Discovery and ideation
  • Information architecture
  • Design
  • User experience
  • Squiz Matrix development
  • Squiz DXP components
  • Content migration
  • Author training
  • Support packs

Ladoo ran discovery, designed the structure and the interface, built the site in the Department’s Squiz environment and has delivered every change since. The SEC owns and publishes its content.

What shipped

  • The SEC’s first website, designed and built in eight weeks and live in October 2023
  • Households restructured on a new landing page, header and component kit through three iterations
  • A home page with a video banner and three doors, on Squiz DXP templates
  • The Business section rebuilt on DXP components with its interactive map kept
  • Four more sections moved to the new templates (About, Workforce, Contact, News), seventy-five articles with their tags, and author training
  • A finance provider comparison with filters, and the Investments section scoped for its next stage

Talk to Nathan about your site.

Nathan runs Ladoo and reads every message himself. Tell him what the site has to do and what is in the way, and within a business day he will tell you what he would do first and whether we are the right fit.