Designers Australia Awards
Graduates
of the Year Awards
Hall of Fame
DIA – Awards
The DIA - Awards are the benchmark for Australian design excellence and the ultimate accolade for design professionals. Underpinned by the core values and purpose of Australia’s peak national design body, the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), the awards champion collaboration, conversation and deep listening. They recognise our collective commitment to Australian designers and their influence on culture and society.
For the Designers Australia Awards and Graduates of the Year Awards the entry process in 2023 is via Nomination (or Self-Nomination). They are accepted in three categories—Place, Use, Interact. The award categories are forward-looking and praised for their exemplary approach that dissolves traditional silos and reflects multidisciplinary problem-solving for the future.
“The DIA - Awards value considered design. The DIA promotes diversity, equality and design that contributes positively to our social, cultural and environmental needs and issues.”
—DIA President, Gavin Campbell FDIA
Established in 1948, the DIA is the only Australian body that champions the value of all design and the impact of our designers. Its purpose is to enable designers to prosper by providing knowledge, thought leadership, access and inclusivity. The DIA - Awards concept was conceived and is a collaboration of the DIA and Latitude Group.
News
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Winners of prestigious Designers Australia Awards 2023 revealed
Australian designers praised by the Design Institute of Australia for ethical, innovative and impactful design. Emerging designers awarded for their dedication to improve people's lives and positively impact society.
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DIA reveals Australia’s winners – Graduates of the Year Awards 2023
The DIA announced the winners of its flagship program for emerging designers—the Graduate of the Year Awards 2023 (Gotya).
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Award of Merit winners for Designers Australia Awards and Fellows 2023 announced
The DIA has announced the recipients receiving the Award of Merit honours for its Designers Australia Awards 2023. Amongst 230+ entrants, 86 were shortlisted, with 32 Merit awards.
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Graduates of the Year Awards 2023 – Shortlist Revealed
We are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Graduates of the Year Awards (GOTYA) 2022. State category winners will be announced at 6 pm Thursday 28 July, at Stylecraft showrooms around the country.
Important Dates
• Designers Australia Awards
Entries Open
5 May 2023
Entries close*
30 June 2023
Awards of Merit Celebrations
31 August 2023
National Category & President’s Prize winner celebrated
2 November 2023
*Closing date will not be extended beyond this date.
• Graduates of the Year Awards
Nominations Open
5 May 2023
Nominations Close
19 May 2023
Entries Open
5 May 2023
Entries Close*
30 June 2023
Judging - Portfolio & Shortlisting finalists
Early July 2023
Judging - Finalist Online Interviews
Late July 2023
State & National Category Winners Announcement
7 September 2023
Madeline Lester Award Announcement
2 November 2023
• Hall of Fame
Nominations Open
9 May 2023
Nominations Close
21 June 2023
DIA Hall of Fame Announcement
6 October 2023
DIA Hall of Fame Ceremony
2 November 2023
DIA Value Statement
Design awards have in recent years become big business with many organisations running them.
• Why enter the DIA's awards?
Benchmarking—Are you making progress? Organised by the DIA; designers for designers, the Designers Australia Awards are the benchmark for Australian design excellence and the ultimate accolade for our designers. All merit recipients receive a DIA certificate and category winners a trophy.
Promotion—Build your profile. The DIA promotes every shortlisted and winning entry. Winning recipients join our Australian design archive; are published on the Institute's awards website, are shared via our national and international communications, and published in the Australian's WISH magazine, bringing significant recognition to successful entrants.
Contribute—Support the design profession. By entering you strengthen our design programs and build commitment to a strong supportive design community.
Profile—Escalate your professional reputation. The awards have unprecedented credibility and are judged by a peer-to-peer panel consisting of 15 leading international and local figures from the design world.
• Why are the DIA's awards different?
The DIA's awards are presented and backed by the DIA—the nation's peak design sector association (and not-for-profit), which is owned by member designers.
Our entry fees are priced to be inclusive of a diversity of applications from a single designer to a large practice.
The judging criteria reflect our commitment to professional design practice and the benefits it can bring to any project no matter how big or small.
We strive to highlight a designer/s ethics, conduct and capabilities as well as their processes. We believe that successful design outcomes embrace the circular economy, diversity and have a positive environmental and social impact.
We value the collaborative process in-group decision-making that promotes trust, thoughtfulness, understanding, competency and responsiveness.
Design is forever evolving! Instead of the traditional categories, we have introduced just three—place, use, interact. This dissolves the silos and reflects a trend to multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving.