The Design Institute of Australia (DIA), Australia's peak national body representing Australia’s designers, today released the first nine out of eighteen jurors invited to judge the prestigious Designers Australia Awards 2022. The DIA's awards are the benchmark for Australian design excellence and are the ultimate accolade for designers backed and endorsed by Australia's only association representing all the design disciplines. Prominent international and locally respected jurors include Kate Goodwin, Thomas Skeehan, Liane Rossler, Ellie Stathaki, Dale Hardiman, and David Meagher.

The Designers Australia Awards were initiated last year after finding an industry void and recognising the need to identify designers and their design process. The awards support Australian emerging and established design communities, both individuals and collectives, the breadth of the design disciplines advocated by the DIA (industrial, interior/architecture, service, fashion, graphic, textile, exhibition, furniture and jewellery design), and bring together Australia's broad design community to celebrate ethical, innovative, and impactful design thinking. The three cross-disciplinary categories—place, use, interact—replace traditional categories.

Juror Kate Goodwin, a Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Sydney, commented: “Now more than ever, our built environment needs to foster a better, more equitable future where we care for the planet and all people. By working together and sharing disciplinary knowledge, the creative industries can forge a better future."

Dale Hardiman, designer and co-founder of Dowel Jones, commented: “As someone who has spent many years avoiding most competitions based on rigid categories, updating the traditional competition format and allowing more ambiguity encourages more diverse entries and future speculative and pragmatic outcomes.

The highly-respected jurors representing a broad cross-section of the international and local design community include:

The jury's primary role is to highlight the value of design thinking and problem solving, designer/s ethics, conduct and capabilities, and their processes. The DIA's collective commitment aims to grow the importance and role of design, the impact of our designers, and their influence on today's culture and society.

The first nine out of eighteen jurors were announced today with the following names to be released next week. Winners will be announced at simultaneous hybrid events across each state on Wednesday 3 August 2022.

For further information, please visit awards.design.org.au