Update on the Australian National Design Policy

By design100 Guest Editor Beatrice Pitt

 A few months back, the Australian Design Alliance (AdA), backed by well-known designers such as Marc Newson and members from the DIA, AGDA, the AIA and other professional bodies, launched their campaign to fund the nationwide initiative of the Australian National Design Policy.

A worthy cause, with the goals of promoting design advocacy and putting design on the forefront of government agendas, they met their target of raising over $15,000, earlier this May. So how do they plan on representing the professional voice of designers and promoting Australian wide design productivity and innovation? Lisa Cahill from the Australian Design Alliance describes the future of the design policy.

With the motto of ‘Design Can Make a Difference’, the AdA is going full steam ahead, making strides towards reaching their goals. Its roots took shape, stemming from a group of committed individuals, across a variety of design disciplines, which “perceived a need to share a common vision for design”. Months of discussions and planning lead to the formation of the AdA. It became clear that government policies needed to be put in place to remain competitive on a global scale and put design research, cultural development and market sustainability on the Australian government’s agenda.
 
What kind of policy work has the AdA already done?
 
They have already laid the foundations for the National Policy and received some heavily influential backing. With His Excellency Michael Bryce as a Patron and funding received from the NSW Government, they ran a series of successful events across Eastern Australia. The program included Sir George Cox, from the UK, author of the Cox Report into Creativity in Business. Lisa describes the programs of advocacy work completed by the AdA:
 
“This advocacy work has included responses to Government reviews – National Cultural Policy, development of the Australian Curriculum etc.  We have also begun to shape the content we would like to see in a national design policy and articulate the way in which we would like to see that policy intersect with other related policies such as the urban design policy, innovation policy etc.”

So now that the AdA has raised their initial funding, what is their immediate plan of action?
 
“The money raised during the Pozible campaign will enable us to do the work necessary get our website up and running and build that content to include case studies that demonstrate the value of design across the full spectrum of activity.  We also plan to seed the research necessary to better understand the scope and structure of the sector and measure the social and economic value of that contribution.”
 
Is the campaign still looking for more support?
 
“The campaign has been fantastic in that it has raised some base funding, identifed a core group of valued supporters and opened up a range of other conversations that have lead to more funding.  We have recently welcomed a design industry partner – Hamilton thomson and a government partner – the South Australian Integrated Design Commission.  We can always use more funding particularly to help us with research and profiling of the sector.”
 
What is your vision for the future of design and innovation funding in Australia?
 
Lisa explains her vision for change to make better use of design in government, to create positive effects in the sector and the community and at very little or no cost:
 
 “Tweaking a range of policy and programs to include design such as government procurement; including designers in the development of programs and services; and including design representatives on government advisory boards like the innovation councils is a good place to start.  I think we have to apply a design lens to what exists and see how we can make it better and add value.  Obviously any new initiatives would cost money but that would be a case of working through the cost benefit of ideas and determining their priority in terms of the government's overall spend.  This is the level of detail we need to get into in designing a national design policy.  We are ready to do this on an industry and we are talking to government about the best way to deliver.”
 
Steven Pozel from Object – Australian Centre for Design, sums it up the design policy in his statement:
 
“Design has proven itself as one of this century’s most empowering tools and a driving force behind innovation that brings ‘structure’ to the best of our creative ideas. A National Design Policy would assure critical leadership through the support of programs, initiatives and opportunities that provide design-led solutions to Australia’s greatest challenges.” 
 
The Australian design market is ready for a revitalization and the changes being initiated by the National Design Policy. We will look forward to the launch of their website and hearing more about the innovations they set in place.

Australian Design Alliance
Website: www.australiandesignalliance.com
Email: info@australiandesignalliance.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/AustralianDesignAlliance
Twitter @ADesignAlliance

Video: Australian Design Alliance - Pozible Campaign by Australian Design Alliance