At a glance
Overview
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia’s challenge
For children, family law proceedings and the justice system is often complex, frightening and alienating. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of (FCFCOA) wanted to address this critical gap by developing a website specifically for children.
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia's transformation
Salsa worked with the FCFCOA to build Kids' . The website is built on using the open source design system. Kids’ Corner was co-designed with children who had personal experience in the system. Content was pitched at two developmental levels — pre-readers and written content aimed at a 10-year-old reading level.
The outcomes
- A child-centred, accessible resource
- A resource recognised by media and the National Children's Commissioner
- A website delivered on budget and within a tight timeframe
Detailed case study
Below is detailed information on the challenge, transformation and final outcomes/benefits.
The Court’s challenge — children are left in the dark during family proceedings
Every year, thousands of Australian children find themselves at the centre of family law proceedings. For many of them, the experience is confusing, frightening and isolating.
A 2018 Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) found that children and young people involved in the family court often felt disconnected from decision-making and that their views had little effect on outcomes.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of (FCFCOA) recognised this gap. While the Court's Children's Service (CCS) does extensive face-to-face work with children, they had nowhere to go online to understand, in their own language, what was happening in their family's legal matter.
The court wanted to change that, in line with its commitment to placing children at the centre of its decision-making and service delivery. This commitment is guided by Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the , which provides that children capable of forming their own views have the right to express those views in all matters affecting them.
The Court’s transformation — co-designing the Kids’ Corner website with children
Salsa partnered with the FCFCOA to build Kids' , a dedicated website designed specifically for children whose families are going through the court process. The project had a tight budget and timeframe, so the team needed an approach that was both rigorous and efficient.
Website design and build
The website was built on the GovCMS using the open source design system and components, extended via a tailored subtheme. Rather than pursuing custom development, Salsa ran a structured discovery workshop and a visual component-mapping exercise to identify how existing CivicTheme components could be configured to meet the project's needs. This avoided custom development that would have tripled the budget, while still meeting Australian Government digital standards.
The team also proactively adjusted initial designs for key sections (FAQs and Kids Stories) to meet accessibility compliance from the start, rather than retrofitting later.
Website content
Content strategy was shaped by co-design with children who have lived experience of the family court system. The Court Children's Service (CCS) team works with thousands of children each year, and those interactions directly informed the site's tone and language. Structured focus groups gave children the opportunity to provide feedback on design elements like colours, characters and wording. Staff and children from Uniting's anchor also reviewed the content.
Because the average age of children in family law applications is seven, and around 90% are primary school age or younger, the team pitched content at two developmental levels. Pre-readers get animated videos explaining what happens when families go to court. Written content targets approximately a 10-year-old reading level. The team also standardised terminology throughout. For example, practitioners who prepare family assessment reports carry a range of titles (family report writer, single expert, family consultant, court child expert), so Kids' uses the term "family expert" to help children relate to the information regardless of which practitioner they see.
The site covers:
- What happens when families change
- Common questions children might have
- Stories from other kids in similar situations
- A page on different emotions
- The Children's in a child-friendly format
- A glossary of legal terms
- Links to support services like and Kids on every page
The outcomes — a child-friendly website for Australian children
- A child-centred, accessible resource endorsed by National Children's Commissioner Anne
- A website that was launched within a tight time frame to align with National Children's Week 2025 and the release of FCFCOA’s new Children's
- A website that received media attention when it was featured on ABC
- A website delivered on budget and on time, using component-based approach
The court has since placed dedicated Kids' Corner iPads in every registry and CCS staff actively collect feedback from the children they work with. The court plans to add more content over time, including a page where children can share their thoughts about the site directly.
About the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia
The Federal Circuit and Family Court of comprises two separate courts. FCFCOA (Division 1) is a specialist family law court (previously known as the Family Court of Australia). FCFCOA (Division 2) (previously known as the Federal Circuit Court) has broader federal jurisdiction across family law, migration, fair work, bankruptcy, intellectual property, consumer law, human rights and administrative law.