DIA calls on Qld interior designers to take action on professional licensing

Article updated 10 October 2023:

Following its ‘Join the Fight’ NSW online forum and evidence-gathering exercise on 12 September, the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) has submitted a proposal to argue the case for licensing of interior designers under the NSW Building Authority.

The DIA states that it’s now time for Queensland interior designers to take action with a meeting scheduled in person, in Brisbane on Wednesday 11 October. The purpose of the meeting will be to build consensus on the issues facing the profession and plan next steps in the Queensland advocacy campaign.

Brisbane event details – Register Here

11 October 2023, 5.30pm for a 6.00pm start
Offiscape, 5/108 Wickham St, Fortitude Valley QLD

Here’s the background story

The DIA put out a nation-wide call to interior designers, both members and non-members, to join a Zoom meeting on 12 September. The topic of the meeting was to address the role of interior designers, which is under challenge by the NSW Building Bill 2023. The DIA raised that regulators don’t understand what interior designers do and noted that the profession urgently needs to be considered for licensing under the NSW Building Bill 2023 to allow interior designers to practice in their full capacity.

In a series of direct electronic reach-outs from DIA supporters and members, the DIA further outlined the situation as follows:

“In a significant step towards advancing the recognition and regulation of the interior design profession in Australia, a crucial meeting took place in Sydney last Thursday. Representatives from the DIA met with officials from the New South Wales Department of Customer Service, to discuss what would be required to achieve licensing for interior designers in NSW.”

The DIA stated that this was important because “NSW is the state leading the review of its building regime. If licensing for interior designers doesn’t happen in NSW, we predict that the profession will disappear under the category of building designers who are already licensed.

“We believe interior designers should be recognised as a separate class of design practitioners,” it stated.

The DIA’s submission to NSW Government can be viewed here.

Design Institute of Australia
design.org.au

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