Special Accolades
The Australian Good Design Awards also feature a number of Special Accolades to recognise, reward and celebrate standout projects (design), teams and individuals (designers) and design practice (designing).
Submit a nomination for the Special Accolades via the online Entry Portal.
The Australian Good Design Award for Sustainability was established in 2007 and aims to recognise projects that embody excellence in design for sustainability and circular economy principles. This award aims to inspire change towards a more sustainable future through the power of good design.
View Evaluation Criteria
DESIGN PROCESS
Describe how the project has been designed to use materials, processes or services that reduce its environmental, human health or social impacts in its intended use, throughout its life cycle and across its supply chain.
Does the design adhere to Circular Economy and/or regenerative design principles such as designing out waste and pollution, designing for longevity, minimising material usage, utilising digital solutions, maximising serviceability and repairability, and/or regenerating natural systems and using processes that have the least possible environmental impact in their use and at the end of their life cycle?
DESIGN EXCELLENCE
Describe how the project is an exemplar and sets a new benchmark in design for sustainability, circular design practice and/or environmental stewardship.
Does the project incorporate any leading-edge innovations or novel design-oriented business models, and is there any potential for these to be adopted more broadly and applied at scale, to inspire change and achieve a more sustainable future.
DESIGN IMPACT
Describe the overall impact of the project, what measurable sustainable outcomes can be achieved and if it will have a long-lasting and positive impact for the client, on society, the economy, and our environment.
More specifically, the Jury want to understand what measurable outcomes have been achieved and how these sustainability initiatives will result in impact at scale to inspire change towards a sustainable future. Does it encourage more sustainable user behaviours, redefine industry standards or influence consumer expectations for better sustainability?
The Jury will also look for evidence that the organisation is quantifying the sustainability impacts and benefits backed by data, transparency, and associated reporting and communications. Data or modelling about potential impact should be provided if the entry has yet to be commercialised or implemented.
The Australian Design Prize was established to recognise individual designers who are making or have made, a significant impact in Australian design over the course of their career.
View Eligibility Criteria
- Nominees must be Australian citizens.
- Nominees can be working and living in Australia or working overseas.
The Australian Good Design Team of the Year Award is a special honour bestowed annually to a design team who consistently performs at the highest level in the annual Australian Good Design Awards and has made a positive and tangible impact in establishing and maintaining a design-led culture within their organisation.
The Award aims to inspire companies to build and maintain a design-led culture throughout the organisation.
View Evaluation Criteria
Design-Led
Evidence that the organisation is design-led from the CEO down and that design forms part of the DNA of the organisation.
Creative Culture
The Design Team has cultivated a culture of creativity and leadership where everyone in the organisation is inspired and influenced by the power of design.
Recognition
The Design Team is consistently recognised in the annual Australian Good Design Awards and other credible international design award programs.
The Michael Bryce Patron’s Award is presented annually by the Patron of Good Design Australia.
The Award recognises and celebrates the best Australian designed product, service or project in the annual Australian Good Design Awards and is awarded to an entry that has the potential to shape the future economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects of our planet.
The Michael Bryce Patron’s Award honours Good Design Australia’s inaugural Patron, the late Michael J.S. Bryce AM AE KStJ to recognise the enormous contribution he made to Good Design Australia and to the Australian design community over the course of his career. We hope this Award will ensure his legacy continues to be recognised in perpetuity through the annual Australian Good Design Awards.
View Evaluation Criteria
- Projects must be designed in Australia.
- Projects must be recognised at a high-level in the Australian Good Design Awards.
The Women in Design Award was established in response to the significant gender imbalance within leadership roles in the design industry.
This award seeks to recognise and celebrate women who have made significant contributions to the industry and hopes to encourage a more diverse and equal representation within leadership roles and in the design and creative industries in general.
There is no cost to nominate and nominators can submit more than one nomination.
View Eligibility Criteria
- Nominees must be Australian citizens or women working and living in Australia.
- Nominations are also open to Australian women currently working overseas.
The Indigenous Design Award is proudly presented by RMIT University and recognises and celebrates the important contribution that Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designers make to Australian Design across the spectrum of design disciplines and practice.
This award welcomes nominations of Indigenous individuals as well as projects where at least one member of the design team identifies as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
RMIT and Indigenous Community representatives evaluate nominated submissions and select the overall winner for the Award based on specific evaluation criteria.
View Evaluation Criteria
Process
How did the design process incorporate indigenous principles and practices?
Inclusion
What processes were used to include authentic consultation/participation with the indigenous peoples?
Impact
How does the outcome have a positive impact on stakeholders or broader community?
The Powerhouse Design Award is chosen from the annual Australian Good Design Awards and the criteria includes good design, innovation and the significance of a design to Australia’s culture. The Award is given to a project that has potential to make a significant improvement to the quality of health, wellbeing or the environment. This Award recognises the important role of design in harnessing the challenges of science and technology to make a positive impact on our lives.
Powerhouse has proudly recognised excellence in Australian design as part of the annual Australian Good Design Awards since 1992.
View Evaluation Criteria
- Projects must be designed in Australia.
- Projects must be recognised in the Australian Good Design Awards.
Good Design Australia’s Automotive Design Award is a special accolade within the Automotive and Transport Category to recognise excellence in automotive design and styling.
Vehicles entered into the Automotive and Transport Category in the annual Australian Good Design Awards will also be considered for the Best Exterior Design Award and Best Interior Design Award as part of the jury process.
View Evaluation Criteria
- Form
- Function
- Visual impact and appeal
- Design detail
Exterior Criteria
- All round visibility
- Pedestrian considerations and safety
- Ease of driver maintenance and cleaning
- Predicted durability and material choice
Interior Criteria
- Ease of entry and egress
- Seating and adjustability
- Control location and ergonomics
- Control feel and function
- Predicted durability and material choice
- Luggage capacity and security
The Robert Pataki Award for Healthcare Design was established to encourage the next generation of designers and innovators to create conceptual design solutions aimed at helping to improve the quality of life for people living with a disability, who live in an aged care environment and for people working within the Healthcare System.
The Award is named in honour of Robert Pataki, OAM, recipient of the Australian Design Prize (2022) and Life Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia.
The Award will recognise a design concept that has potential to make a significant impact on the quality of life, health and wellbeing of people living or working within the Healthcare System.
The objective of the Award is to encourage up and coming creatives and to help promote the importance of embedding design-led innovation into all areas of Australia’s healthcare system. To help foster a culture of leveraging the power of design to make a meaningful impact on the most vulnerable people in our society.
The Award is free to enter, and the winner will receive a special certificate and a cash prize of up to $5,000, plus the opportunity of mentorship (at the discretion of the Jury) – generously donated by the Pataki Family.
View Evaluation Criteria
ELIGIBILITY
- There is no age limit to entry.
- Entrants must be Australian or New Zealand citizens.
- Creativity is encouraged – Entries are not required to be commercially available but must have the potential for commercial viability.
- Entries do not need to be a completed product – Conceptual designs and university projects are also eligible for entry.
- This accolade primarily seeks projects with an industrial design solution, but accepts projects from all design disciplines.
PURPOSE
- Does the design concept address a specific need in the healthcare system?
- Does the proposed design solution solve a legitimate problem that will have a meaningful positive impact on people living with a disability or in an aged care environment or working within the Healthcare System.
EXECUTION
- Does the design concept consider appropriate materials and technology, and does it have the potential to be realised?
- Is the design concept creative in its approach to solving the identified problem in the aged care and healthcare sector?
OUTCOME
- Does the design have the potential to solve the identified problem in a clever and imaginative way that will have a meaningful impact on the end user(s)?
- If implemented, will the design concept have the ability to be scaled up to make a significant impact on the quality of people’s lives, who are either living with or working with disability or in an aged care environment?
The Livio Bonollo Award for Durability and Lifespan was established to honour individuals and organisations that have made a significant contribution to sustainable design practices through the design of a product that exemplifies exceptional durability and longevity and has truly stood the test of time.
This Award is named in honour of Professor Elivio Bonollo AM, a strong advocate for Sustainability through Product Durability and Lifespan and recipient of the 2024 Australian Design Prize.
The Award will recognise an Australian product that has been on the market in Australia and / or around the world and has endured in performance and quality while positively impacting society and the environment because it has stood the test of time.
PURPOSE
The objective of the Award is to help promote the development and manufacture of “Quality Australian Products” that last for a period of time, beyond expectation, and fosters a cultural change to extended product lifespans through durability, quality and through the adoption of circular and sustainable design practices.
ELIGIBILITY
Anyone can nominate a product for consideration.
Nominations are open to any product that has been in service continually for its original purpose, and is regarded as “Good value and has lasted beyond an acceptable period of time.”
Nominees must be Australian or Australian organisations who have designed and manufactured a product for Australian and overseas markets.
As a significant amount of time may have passed since the design of the product, or individuals may have moved on or passed away, however, eligibility still applies if the responsible organisation is still active in relation to the product.
The product may have been repaired, serviced and may have had replacement parts to keep it in working order during its lifetime.
LIFESPAN
What period of time should a product have been in use since first commissioned, to qualify as good value, beyond an acceptable period of time?
DURABILITY
Has a significant number of the products (at least 20%) been in continuous use for their original purpose to date and are they still in good working order while consuming minimal resources over that period of time?
SUSTAINABILITY
Has the product endured emotionally, socially, economically, culturally, and environmentally and stood the test of time, lasting so that the consumer has the option to either continue or end its use, and not as a result of its failure?
CIRCULARITY
Has the product’s manufacturer/creator designed their business model alongside their product in consideration of Durability and Lifespan, for easy, cost effective repairability by unskilled personnel to reduce waste?