A new set of tools and resources is helping NSW Government agencies deliver clear, inclusive communications.
The NSW Email Design System is now live and offers a simple and effective way for teams to produce high-quality emails in multiple formats.
“Accessible and consistent communication is vital for building trust and clarity. The NSW Email Design System helps ensure messages reach people across NSW, while aligning with established best practices – including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and privacy standards – already used within our NSW Design System”.
Lauren Hitchon, Senior Application Administrator, Digital NSW
What can the NSW Email Design System do?
The NSW Email Design System gives designers and developers several templates to work from.
These templates support the most common types of email communications, such as:
- announcements – to share updates quickly and clearly
- newsletters – to keep stakeholders informed with regular bulletins
- events – to send consistent invitations and reminders
- promotional – to highlight services, programs or campaigns
- surveys – to gather feedback in an accessible format.
Guidance on NSW Government branding and styles such as colour palettes, typography, spacing, and border rules make it easier to design and build emails that look consistent and meet accessibility standards. There’s also an email signature builder, supporting the creation of on-brand signatures quickly.
Layout options, content blocks, and interactive components are also built in, so teams can work faster without needing to start from scratch every time.
“Adopting the NSW Email Design System is straightforward and immediately beneficial. It’s designed for simplicity, allowing teams to quickly improve their email communications.”
Lauren Hitchon, Senior Application Administrator, Digital NSW
Developer resources
Supporting resources include best practice guidance that’s tailored for developers – covering coding standards, testing and client compatibility.
The NSW Email Design System syncs easily with platforms like Outlook and Gmail, making it straightforward to build, test, and deliver consistent emails across different environments.
Getting started
It’s simple to begin building professional and accessible email communications with the NSW Email Design System.
Option A – for developers
Use the full framework to develop, preview and build production-ready HTML:
- Sign in to the NSW Email Design System with your NSW Government Microsoft SSO.
- Go to Dashboard → Downloads and fetch the latest release package.
- Unzip the file locally, then run npm install.
- Start a development server with npm run dev and build for production with npm run build.
Option B – for designers and other users
Use the pre-built snippets and starter files to quickly create and preview emails – no installation required:
- Browse Blocks, Components, Layouts and Templates on the NSW Email Design System.
- Copy the precompiled snippet you need.
- Download the plain .html starter file from Dashboard → Downloads.
- Paste the snippet into the starter file and customise the content.
- Preview in a browser and send test emails to check key clients.
Try out the NSW Email Design System
Create NSW Government emails that are accessible, consistent and compliant with government standards.