Building the Value of Australian Design
Founded in 2010, the Australian Design Alliance [AdA] was established to provide a unified national voice for Australia’s design sector. Its purpose was to advocate for the value of design, advance the case for a National Design Policy, strengthen design education and position design as a strategic contributor to Australia’s innovation and economic agenda.
As the Alliance developed, it brought together an increasingly broad cross-section of the sector. Membership expanded beyond its founding disciplines to include engineering, architecture, building design, film, theatre and event design alongside graphic design, urban planning, landscape architecture, product and industrial design, interior design, fashion and textile design, visual arts, craft and media arts. This breadth created a rare national coalition of peak bodies working together to build recognition of design’s economic, social, and cultural contributions.
Throughout its formative years, the AdA focused on elevating the national conversation about design. It developed partnerships with government, education and industry, contributed to policy discussions, and represented the sector in strategic forums. Its advocacy consistently reinforced design as an intellectual process central to innovation, productivity and long-term national competitiveness.
This work culminated in the national Context Workshops conducted across five capital cities in 2019. The workshops provided structured engagement with practitioners, educators, industry representatives, and policymakers to better understand the contemporary design landscape in Australia. The insights gathered were consolidated in The Context Workshops Report – Understanding the Current Landscape of Design in Australia (Version 2, June 2022).
The report established a shared evidence base for the sector and became the foundation for refining the AdA’s strategic direction. It clarified priorities, strengthened the Alliance’s advocacy platform and informed the pathway toward articulating a National Design Policy for Australia.
Why Design Matters Now
Against this backdrop of accelerating global change and growing recognition of design’s strategic value, the work of the AdA remains relevant. As governments and industries increasingly adopt design-led approaches to innovation, service delivery and sustainability, the need for a coherent national framework for design in Australia continues to strengthen.
Designing for a Better Australia
The Australian Design Alliance works to elevate the value and visibility of design in Australia.
It does this by strengthening the collective voice of the sector and advancing the case for design as an intellectual process that drives innovation, productivity and social impact. Through engagement with government, industry and education, the AdA works to ensure design is understood not as decoration or add-on value, but as a strategic capability essential to national competitiveness.
Design plays a critical role in building a stronger, more competitive economy, a fairer, more inclusive society, and a sustainable future. When understood and applied effectively, it equips business and government to respond to complexity, improve services and address emerging challenges.
Realising this potential requires national leadership. The AdA advocates for a partnership between the Federal Government and industry to develop a coherent National Design Policy that strengthens local and international competitiveness, improves the delivery of government services, and positions Australia to meet future challenges.