Alannah & Madeline Foundation: Reimagining digital safety for Australia's youngest learners

CLIENT

Alannah & Madeline Foundation

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is a national not-for-profit committed to keeping children safe. Their eSmart program is Australia’s trusted provider of online safety education for schools, educators and families.

BRIEF

Extend digital safety education to younger learners

AMF wanted to bring their successful Digital Licence program to children aged four to nine — a developmental stage where individual screen-based learning is not the right fit, and where structured online safety resources are missing from Australian classrooms.

A program built in partnership for the early years

The new eSmart Digital Licence was developed by the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, with Conduct leading the technology design and build and Bubbleship developing the learning content and visual design. The program is funded by the Australian Federal Government and extends AMF’s successful Digital Licence — reimagined for a younger audience with distinct developmental and classroom needs.

Children begin engaging with screens well before they can fully understand the risks. Yet structured, developmentally appropriate online safety resources for ages four to nine have not been consistently available. The program was purpose-built for teacher-led delivery, reflecting the reality that learning at this age is active, social and often offline — with technology used to support rather than dominate the classroom.

Educator research workshop session conducted as part of the eSmart Digital Licence program design

A hybrid program built around the 4Cs

Lessons are structured around AMF’s four-quadrant online safety framework — Content, Contact, Conduct and Compulsion — and address topics including misinformation, cyberbullying, respectful interactions and screen use. Educators guide students through four themed “islands”, selecting one lesson from each category to suit their class.

The classroom experience is print-first. Colourful maps, worksheets and character-led storytelling — designed by Bubbleship — bring complex safety ideas to life through play. Students colour in parts of their map as they progress, and each class receives printable digital licences at the end. QR codes embedded in the printed materials link to short videos that introduce each of the 4Cs, removing the need for one-to-one devices.

Sample illustrations, characters and videos from the eSmart Digital Licence program

Built for access, not administration

We built the platform in Webflow to meet federal funding deadlines and ship a live MVP within weeks. Teachers select their school from a dynamic list, download what they need and begin — no logins, no setup, no onboarding. A second release introduced richer structure, including downloadable teaching packs, embedded media and a custom evaluation form built from scratch.

The form integrates directly with AMF’s Microsoft Dynamics CRM via custom code, replacing a previously time-intensive manual feedback process. The Foundation captures national participation data and educator reflections without adding to classroom workload — and the lightweight build allows the program to scale and evolve as online safety guidelines shift.

eSmart Digital Licence platform pages displayed across a laptop and floating screens

Our impact

Curriculum-aligned digital safety program live for Australian primary classrooms, designed for children aged 4 to 9
Print-first, teacher-led delivery removes the need for one-to-one devices and works in schools with limited infrastructure
No-login access supports broad and equitable adoption across diverse school contexts
Custom Webflow to Microsoft Dynamics CRM integration captures national participation data and educator feedback without adding to classroom workload
Lightweight build allows the program to scale and evolve as national online safety guidelines shift