Design Institute of Australia

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A win for Service Designers! Following the DIA’s Write DESIGNER campaign, we have some exciting news: the Australian Bur...
27/08/2026

A win for Service Designers!

Following the DIA’s Write DESIGNER campaign, we have some exciting news: the Australian Bureau of Statistics has officially included Service Designer in the draft Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA), now open for final public consultation ahead of its March 2027 release.

This recognition has been years in the making.

Over the past several years, the DIA has worked alongside Simon Goodrich, co-founder of Portable, Dr Laura Kostanski Laura Kostanski, and hundreds of practitioners and educators across Australia to build the case for the rapidly growing occupations of Service Designer and Strategic Designer to be formally recognised within Australia’s occupation classification framework.

The inclusion of Service Designer is an important milestone, and demonstrates what sustained, collective advocacy can achieve.

But we’re not finished yet. Strategic Designer remains absent from the draft classification. Ahead of the 18 September consultation deadline, the DIA will make a further submission to the ABS addressing this omission, along with proposed description changes affecting Digital and Service Designers, UI/UX Designers, and Graphic and Visual Content Designers.

This is the work of the DIA; making sure Australia’s designers are recognised, represented and counted.

Read the OSCA draft at https://consult.abs.gov.au/standards-and-classifications/consultation-draft-osca

Visit the link in our bio access the DIA OSCA 2027 Update Submission

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Congratulations to Jannah Abdellatif, winner of the Madeline Lester Award at this year’s Graduates of the Year Awards!Gr...
26/08/2026

Congratulations to Jannah Abdellatif, winner of the Madeline Lester Award at this year’s Graduates of the Year Awards!

Graduating from the University of Technology Sydney (NSW), Jannah was recognised at last week’s GOTYA celebrations held across the country at GOTYA partner Stylecraft showrooms.

The jury shared this reflection on Jannah’s work:

“Jannah’s practice works at a global register while holding a lens to the multicultural reality of Australia, a culturally aware perspective on power, privilege and heritage that is lived rather than observed. In awarding the Madeline Lester, the jury recognised not only what has been made but the position from which it is made. The range of this emerging oeuvre is already significant, and the jury has no hesitation in anticipating the impact Jannah will go on to have on our industry, here and globally.”

A huge congratulations to Jannah, and to all of this year’s Graduates of the Year Award recipients. We can’t wait to see where your careers take you.

🏆 It’s GOTYA week! This Thursday night, the Design Institute of Australia will present the 2026 Graduate of the Year Awa...
18/08/2026

🏆 It’s GOTYA week! This Thursday night, the Design Institute of Australia will present the 2026 Graduate of the Year Awards at Stylecraft showrooms across five states, celebrating the very best of Australia’s emerging design talent all on the same night.

The GOTYAs shine a light on the graduates set to shape our industry’s future. It’s a truly heart warming event and we encourage you to join us! Book via link in bio.

In South Australia, the celebrations go one step further. We’ll also be presenting DIA Fellowships to three outstanding members: Zoë King, Jane Lawrence and DR NATHAN JAMES CRANE | Aesthetic Intelligence. Congratulations to all three on this well-deserved recognition.

🍽️ Dine & Design: The Story Behind SUCHANDSUCH Ever wondered what goes into designing an iconic restaurant, from concept...
13/08/2026

🍽️ Dine & Design: The Story Behind SUCHANDSUCH

Ever wondered what goes into designing an iconic restaurant, from concept to the last detail on the table?

Join DIA ACT for an evening where great food meets great design. We’re bringing together the creative minds behind Canberra’s Such and Such: owner Ross McQuinn, interior architect Mark Brook (MYMYMY Architecture), furniture designer Tom Skeehan (SKEEHAN | Australian Design Studio), and graphic designer Tim Lynch (Inklab), for a night of stories, collaboration, and course-by-course conversation.

📅 Wed 19 August, 6-9pm
📍 Such and Such, Canberra ACT
🎓 4 CPD points for DIA Accredited Designers
🎫 DIA Members $195 | General $240 (+BF+GST)

Spaces are limited and almost sold out, book now to secure your seat at the table.

Book via link in bio

🍽️ Dine & Design: The Story Behind SUCHANDSUCH Ever wondered what goes into designing an iconic restaurant, from concept...
13/08/2026

🍽️ Dine & Design: The Story Behind SUCHANDSUCH

Ever wondered what goes into designing an iconic restaurant, from concept to the last detail on the table?

Join DIA ACT for an evening where great food meets great design. We’re bringing together the creative minds behind Canberra’s Such and Such: owner Ross McQuinn, interior architect Mark Brook (MYMYMY Architecture), furniture designer Tom Skeehan (SKEEHAN | Australian Design Studio), and graphic designer Tim Lynch (Inklab), for a night of stories, collaboration, and course-by-course conversation.

📅 Wed 19 August, 6-9pm
📍 Such and Such, Canberra ACT
🎓 4 CPD points for DIA Accredited Designers
🎫 DIA Members $195 | General $240 (+BF+GST)

Spaces are limited and almost sold out, book now to secure your seat at the table.

To every designer who wrote DESIGNER this August - thank you. You just helped Australia see this profession clearly for ...
12/08/2026

To every designer who wrote DESIGNER this August - thank you. You just helped Australia see this profession clearly for the first time.

11/08/2026

Today’s the day. Write DESIGNER.

For decades, the Design Institute of Australia has advocated for Australian designers to be seen, recognised and counted.

Today, we have an opportunity to turn that advocacy into something powerful: evidence.

Every designer in Australia has the opportunity to identify their profession and help build a clearer picture of the workforce designing the products, places, services, systems, communications and experiences that shape Australian life.

Complete your Census, and then, help us reach one more designer.

Share the Write DESIGNER campaign with a colleague, friend or family member who works in design. Make sure they know that what they write today matters.

Then watch the Write DESIGNER campaign film one more time. Turn it up loud. Celebrate the extraordinary breadth of Australian design and the designers who prove, every day, that “you can.”

Today, 11 August. Write DESIGNER.

To Clemenger BBDO, N’fa Jones, Jonah Gabriel, and every designer, business, organisation, institution and member of our design community who has shared, posted, talked, written and rallied behind this campaign — thank you.

This has been a collective effort for Australian design.

Now, let’s make every designer count. Write DESIGNER

Visit the link in our bio to the Write Designer campaign to learn how and for campaign assets.

Census Day is tomorrow. Will your design work be counted?Join DIA's online session tomorrow morning (8:30–9am AEST) on h...
10/08/2026

Census Day is tomorrow. Will your design work be counted?

Join DIA's online session tomorrow morning (8:30–9am AEST) on how to correctly answer the two Census questions that matter for design: your occupation and your main tasks.

The 2026 Census is the first to use Minor Group 242 – Design Professionals. What you write on Census night helps build the first national baseline of Australia's design workforce, so it's worth getting right.

We'll cover common mistakes, guidance for senior leaders and in-house designers, and a live Q&A.

📍 Online via Google Meet
🕗 8:30am AEST, Tue 11 Aug
🔗 Register now via the DIA events page - link in bio

Wear the Message. Share the Movement.Over the past weeks, Australia’s design profession has come together like never bef...
09/08/2026

Wear the Message. Share the Movement.

Over the past weeks, Australia’s design profession has come together like never before. Supported by peak bodies, organisations, studios, practices, educators, cultural institutions, media, businesses and communities across the country, we’ve united behind one shared message: Write DESIGNER.

It’s been inspiring to see so many people champion Australia’s designers and their work, from sharing campaign resources to helping spark a national conversation.

When we work together, we strengthen the recognition of our profession. With only a couple of days remaining until Census Night, let’s make them count. Please keep sharing the campaign and encourage every designer in your network to identify. Visit the link in our bio to check your design occupation or title in Group 242. Make your Census count.

11 August. Write DESIGNER.

📸 Dale Hardiman of Dowel Jones

Write DESIGNER Spotlight: Culture and CommerceCan’t move country. Can’t drive the economy. Can’t reuse. Can’t be loud.De...
07/08/2026

Write DESIGNER Spotlight: Culture and Commerce

Can’t move country. Can’t drive the economy. Can’t reuse. Can’t be loud.
Designers prove you can.

In our Write DESIGNER film, every “”can’t”” is answered by an Australian design project, and today we recognise the designers behind four of them: A Pitjantjatjara Tjukurpa story flying on a jet over Country. A truck built to carry the economy. A drink brand founded on rescued produce. Dining beneath the sails of the Opera House. Australian design carries culture into everyday life — proving the two thrive together.

When culture and commerce meet, a designer gave it form.

The 2026 Census is the first with a dedicated occupation group for Design Professionals (OSCA 242), and every response builds the evidence that shapes policy, education and investment in design.

Visit the link in our bio to watch the campaign film, discover the designers featured, and then check your design occupation or title in Group 242, to make your Census count, Tuesday 11 August

Design Institute of Australia Clemenger BBDO BALARINJI .trucks.au Wonki Tonkin Zulaikha Greer

Design Projects

Balarinji (design studio); Maringka Baker (Pitjantjatjara artist) The Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa Art Aircraft 2023. Commissioned by Qantas. Image courtesy © Balarinji.

PACCAR Australia Pty Ltd for Kenworth Australia (design studio and manufacturer) Kenworth T620SAR truck, 2025. Video courtesy © PACCAR Australia.

Wonki Pty Ltd (founder and manufacturer); Shadowboxer (venture and brand identity studio); Emma Park (brand partner); Anja Hoffman (design director); Angus Williams (product designer); Ashe Davenport (copywriter) Wonki, Cucumber and Lime alcoholic beverage and packaging, 2023. Image courtesy © Wonki Pty Ltd. Photo: Josh Bainbridge.

Tonkin Zulaikha Greer (architecture and interior design studio) Bennelong Restaurant interior design, Sydney Opera House, 2015. Image courtesy Tonkin Zulaikha Greer. Photo: © Brett Stevens.

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