Deadly Democracy – 2025 Good Design Award of the Year

THE AUSTRALIAN GOOD DESIGN AWARD OF THE YEAR IS HISTORICALLY AWARDED TO ONLY ONE EXEMPLARY PROJECT ACROSS ALL DESIGN DISCIPLINES AND CATEGORIES.

IT REPRESENTS THE VERY PEAK OF DESIGN EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION AND IMPACT.

IN 2025, THE JURY FOUND TWO PROJECTS DESERVING OF THIS TOP ACCOLDADE – DEADLY DEMOCRACY AND HULLBOT.

When First Nations young people lead, entire communities benefit. Deadly Democracy, a partnership between YLab – a youth sector consultancy – and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), was created to boost civic participation and deepen understanding of democracy among First Nations youth.

The program trained paid participants as community leaders and facilitators, empowering them with the skills, confidence and knowledge to design and lead civic engagement initiatives within their own communities.

Deadly Democracy was recognised with the Good Design Australia’s highest honour, the 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year. We spoke with Brigid Canny, YLab CEO, for a behind-the-scenes look at the project. She also highlighted the dedicated YLab Team who brought Deadly Democracy to life, including:

Angel Towney, She/Her, Wiradjuri woman
Kelsey Dole, She/Her, Ngiyampaa woman
Will Austin, He/Him, Peek Woorroong Keerraay Woorroong man
Jannah Firebrace She/Her, Gunditjmara and Yorta Yorta woman
Mercedes Kirwin She/Her Wakaman woman
Chelsea Lang, She/Her
Damon Chester, He/Him
Ruby Healey, She/Her

Dive into the incredible co-design journey behind Deadly Democracy, including defining features such as lived experience-led co-design, paid employment, and strong community partnerships.

Deadly Democracy – Winner of the 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year. Image: Supplied

A values-led approach

YLab and the AEC began conversations about Deadly Democracy in 2020. From the beginning, it was clear that the civic education program would require robust co-design processes.

Brigid reflected why YLab was the right fit for the project.

“Part of why YLab was an attractive partner is that we had a First Nations team embedded in our organisation.

“They brought both professional expertise in working with government and partners, and lived experience as First Nations young people, providing this depth of knowledge around cultural safety, relationships, and legitimacy with the young people we were working with,” Brigid said.

YLab prioritises their values from day one of project discussions. It’s why they’re discerning with the work that they take on, and why they feel they stood out to the AEC.

“I think the AEC were pleased that we reconsidered the original scope of work. They initially wanted us to lead all delivery, however, we consider ourselves an ally organisation because we’re not Aboriginal-owned.

“We emphasised the importance of partnering with local organisations. Every language and cultural group is unique, and local partners – such as Umeewarra Media – can sustain relationships long-term.

“Our approach was about going to where young people are and giving them a significant role in shaping the program, rather than bringing them out of their communities.”

How past experiences sparked new ideas

YLab looked back on previous civic education programs, which hadn’t achieved the desired outcomes. Drawing on their findings, they dove into new ways to embed design participation. Every choice aimed to support First Nations young people to engage confidently and meaningfully in democracy.

“The AEC were really self-aware in recognising there was a need to rethink First Nations engagement.

“We wanted to avoid the fly-in, fly-out model which consultants often rely on with remote communities, which can often leave them feeling disillusioned.

“Alternatively, it’s quite common in First Nations or youth-focused programs for organisations to think, ‘Let’s bring young people to the city,’ which can mean conforming to a metropolitan, Western way of working.

“We were aware that First Nations young people thrive when they’re in their own context and community. We wanted to ensure their knowledge and lived expertise was legitimised. Our question was always: how might we use those strengths and ensure the program is embedded in community?” Brigid shared.

The power of paid employment

One of the defining elements of YLab’s approach was paid employment of participants. This not only ensured First Nations young people were shaping the delivery of the program, but highlighted the importance of reciprocal co-design.

“YLab has been operating for around 10 years, and we’ve always had youth employment at the centre of our model. If we’re engaging young people, we should also be building their capability and paying them for their time, so they’re better off from the experience. It’s about not being extractive.

“Paying participants ensures they can prioritise this work without sacrificing paid employment elsewhere. It also legitimises cultural work as professional work, a core value for us. Finally, it allowed us to support participants to thrive in meaningful roles.”

Brigid explained how paying participants not only supports the goals of the Deadly Democracy program, but also champions a wider mission to close the youth employment gap.

“Youth unemployment remains disproportionately high in First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse communities, so this approach helped bridge that gap by offering young people paid, entry-level experience based on their lived expertise rather than prior work history.

We believe lived expertise is worth paying for. Too often, consultations or co-design processes ask young people and communities to give their insights without reciprocity. For us, reciprocity is always at the centre of our work with young people and First Nations communities.”

Deadly Democracy – Winner of the 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year. Image: Supplied

Co-designing with First Nations young people

From creation through to delivery, Deadly Democracy is rooted in co-design. Brigid explained how YLab adapted their existing co-design framework to achieve better outcomes.

“Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that I’m not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and some of our team aren’t either. So everything I share here comes from what I’ve learnt from my First Nations colleagues and their guidance.

“We’re conscious that as an organisation we don’t always get it right, but we’re committed to constantly learning and improving our practice of allyship.

“We’re always mindful that co-design can sometimes be used superficially to appear collaborative when decisions have already been made. True co-design means genuinely handing over decision-making power. It’s not a one-size-fits-all tool. It needs to be used thoughtfully, with awareness of context, limitations, and strengths.

“Traditionally, YLab’s co-design model follows three broad stages – understanding the problem, designing solutions, and scaling for impact. But in a First Nations context, YLab’s co-design approach is much less linear and more circular.

“A yarning, fluid, open-ended conversation proved to be a far more effective and culturally grounded way to co-design with First Nations young people.

“We also noticed that many participants expressed themselves through creativity and cultural practices, like weaving and craft, rather than traditional workshop methods such as post-it notes.”

YLab also stepped away from the Western approach of separating young people into standalone engagement sessions.

“In many First Nations communities that can feel inappropriate. First Nations cultures are so much more intergenerational. We worked with Elders who were as invested in youth issues as young people themselves. So in some workshops, we involved both Elders and young people together.”

Diverse workshops for greater engagement

YLab’s usual approach to workshop delivery is two-tiered: a core group of young people are employed and trained to lead facilitation with our mentorship, and then the young people engage a broader cohort in their communities.

“We want to leave capacity behind whenever we work in a community”, Brigid said.

When it came to Deadly Democracy, each young person designed their own engagement. Their methods ranged from yarning circles to sports. This approach also allowed for a deeper understanding of the barriers to participation for First Nations young people, which was incredibly valuable for the AEC.

“The idea was for them to decide what would best engage their peers. The focus was always on increasing young people’s civic participation and understanding of democracy – why voting matters, how to vote, and what happens if you don’t – without pushing any political agenda. Because of the history of colonisation and mistrust in electoral systems, it was essential that First Nations young people led this work themselves.”

As the world changed, so did the workshops. In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic meant the program needed to be delivered through a hybrid model. YLab found this made the program more accessible for young people who were remote, neurodiverse, or preferred online engagement.

Later, the 2023-24 program ran during the leadup to the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum. This sensitive time required an additional focus on wellbeing for both First Nations YLab team members and participants.

“Many workshops included education about the referendum and the Constitution, always handled with care. It was a tense time, and we had to ensure facilitators – who were young Aboriginal people themselves – felt supported through that cultural and emotional load.”

Deadly Democracy – Winner of the 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year. Image: Supplied

Relationships built on trust

YLab co-delivered the program with local Indigenous organisations, opening the door to connection through an existing First Nations organisation that potential participants know and trust.

“As an ally organisation, we believe it’s essential to work alongside local and subject-matter experts, especially in communities that aren’t our own. Each community is unique, and local Indigenous organisations have the relationships, context and cultural knowledge needed to make engagement meaningful and sustainable.

“Co-delivering ensured the work wasn’t extractive or “fly-in, fly-out”. It helped build lasting connections between young people and organisations that could continue supporting them beyond the program.

“Partner selection was a relational process. In some cases, we built on existing AEC partnerships. In others, we reached out directly to local youth centres or community groups to understand who was already trusted and active. This approach also allowed us to direct funding to local organisations, strengthening their capacity and recognising the critical role they play in their communities.”

The secret to strong partnerships

Brigid had parting words for ally organisations like YLab. Partnerships with First Nations organisations are fundamental. However, they must be relational and reciprocal, never extractive.

“Too often, partnerships are formed just to meet procurement requirements and get contracts. Then, there’s not enough care or courage in the way that the work is designed and co-delivered.

“We pride ourselves on holding ourselves accountable. If we are working with First Nations Communities, we need to trust and empower local community partners and act as a backbone of support rather than the lead.”

Deadly Democracy has created culturally safe spaces for leadership, learning, and enduring connections. Good Design Australia congratulates and thanks YLab and the AEC for creating an exceptional example of co-design with lasting outcomes and meaningful impact.

Hullbot – 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year

THE AUSTRALIAN GOOD DESIGN AWARD OF THE YEAR IS HISTORICALLY AWARDED TO ONLY ONE EXEMPLARY PROJECT ACROSS ALL DESIGN DISCIPLINES AND CATEGORIES.

IT REPRESENTS THE VERY PEAK OF DESIGN EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION.

IN 2025, THE JURY FOUND TWO PROJECTS DESERVING OF THIS TOP ACCOLADE – DEADLY DEMOCRACY AND HULLBOT.

The 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year goes beneath the surface in more ways than one. Hullbot is an autonomous underwater robot tackling one of the ocean’s oldest and most complex challenges: biofouling.

Biofouling, the build-up of marine organisms on ship hulls, causes higher drag, wasted fuel, increased emissions and the spread of invasive species. For decades, the industry relied on toxic antifouling paints and risky diver cleaning to fight it, creating a band-aid on an evolving issue.

Hullbot offers something radically different, a full autonomous in-water system that cleans hulls proactively, safely and without releasing poisons into the sea.

*Hullbot – 2025 Australian Good Design Award of the Year. Image: Supplied*.

A smarter way to clean

To dive deeper, we spoke with Tom Loefler, CEO and Co-Founder of Hullbot. Tom tells us the idea began with the realisation that human divers alone could never meet the scale of global demand.

“The shipping and ferry industries are burning millions of tonnes of extra fuel every year, and driving up emissions because of biofouling.

“There aren’t enough human divers in the world to drive the impact and decarbonisation the planet needs. The insight was that if cleaning could be done proactively and gently and make the process easy for operators, we could prevent the problem altogether.

“We thought, what if small, smart robots could put themselves in the water and clean the ship every day or every week? It could be more like brushing your teeth.”

This led the Hullbot team to a decade of research and iteration. It took six generations of prototypes shaped by engineers, marine scientists and designers who refused to accept the limits of conventional robotics.

Creating the world we want to live in

Loefler’s own journey helps explain the ambition behind Hullbot.

“When I was graduating from UNSW and choosing my major project, I looked beyond the paths many industrial designers were taking into services, software and consumer electronics,” Tom told us.

“I kept asking where the truly impactful technologies would be in the middle of my career. Robotics felt inevitable and useful. I wanted to find an invention I could work on for a long time and build a company around it.

“Robots let us decouple intention from willpower. They can take on essential, repetitive tasks we don’t have the time, incentives or safe conditions to do ourselves. That’s powerful when you’re facing big environmental problems.

“We can invent, design and engineer machines that help create the world we want to live in without adding human risk or unsustainable labour.

“Hullbot grew from that belief and from applying industrial design to robotics.”

A resilient robot for the sea

Operating autonomously beneath the surface is not an easy feat. Tom shared with us how Hullbot’s team had to design for grace and grit in equal measure.

“Underwater, there is no GPS, there is no WiFi, it is very difficult to see and it is one of the harshest environments on the planet.

“The hardware had to be compact but powerful enough to handle this complex marine environment. We designed a system of modular components that can be serviced quickly in the field. The environment forced us to make Hullbot both rugged and graceful.

“The system can operate in near zero visibility and strong currents, using various sensors to navigate the hull.”

The result is a modular, field-serviceable system that navigates complex hull geometries, withstands currents and cleans with precision.

“We designed the Hullbot experience to be smart, adaptive and light-touch,” Loefler noted.

“Every aspect of the user’s journey was stripped back so that operators don’t need to be distracted or impacted at all.

“The environmental effectiveness comes from precision, the robot is potentially the only product in class on the market that can navigate complex shapes and clean these effectively. It preserves coatings and minimises disturbance to marine life globally.”

Multidisciplinary excellence

Behind every successful robot lies a collaboration of unexpected experts. Hullbot’s team is across mechatronics, software marine science and product design.

Tom shared, “We built a culture around shared purpose rather than specific disciplines.

“Everyone from marine biologists to mechatronics engineers, was united by the same goal: protect the ocean.

“That alignment allowed for open communication and rapid iteration. We’d have roboticists testing underwater alongside designers, all learning from each other in real time.”

That collaboration accelerated technical progress and shaped the company’s culture. Iteration became second nature. Creativity was used not as decoration, but as a problem-solving tool.

Bringing his own discipline expertise to Hullbot, Tom added, “Industrial design is a great tool for translating between different engineering disciplines and keeping the creativity and the ambition high to counterbalance the hardcore engineering that is required to make robots work.”

Winning the market’s trust

Introducing new technology to a risk-averse market required empathy and evidence in equal measure.

“Ship owners were understandably cautious about letting a robot near their very expensive hull coatings,” Loefler said.

“We overcame this through design, experimentation, the search for objective evidence, clear reporting, video feeds and the development of various brush heads depending on coating serviced.”

The robot’s visual sophistication became a silent ambassador.

“If it was a robot that was not well designed, we wouldn’t be here. We wouldn’t have broken through a market that was so unreceptive to innovation.”

Clean early, change everything

Hullbot’s results are as tangible as they are transformative. Operators across Australia, the U.S., Singapore and Europe report fuel savings of 10-26%, extended hull-coasting lifespaces and drastically lower emissions.

The system has already prevented over 250,000 kg of CO₂ emissions from entering the atmosphere with a long-term goal of cutting half a gigaton annually by 2035.

By enabling the use of non-toxic silicone coatings, Hullbot removes the need for antifouling paints and their associated microplastic pollution.

Each robot can prevent up to 150 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year.

“Waiting for biofouling to grow means you’ve already lost efficiency and increased emissions,” Loefler said.

“Our philosophy is: clean early and clean often. That small design shift, multiplied across thousands of ships, translates into huge emissions reductions globally.”

The future of designed decarbonisation

At its core, Hullbot represents what great design can do when applied to global problems.

“Good design serves without friction, empowers people and improves the world quietly,” Loefler reflected.

“You know it’s good design when something complex feels simple and when its impact extends beyond its form.”

And as industries race toward decarbonisation and sustainability initiatives, Loefler believes design will remain the key between ideas that inspire and those that endure.

“Design will be the differentiator between solutions that stay theoretical and those that scale. The future of decarbonisation depends on usability, if sustainable technologies aren’t practical or desirable, they won’t be adopted fast enough.

“Design is what turns ambition into adoption.”

And for designers looking to tackle big, systemic challenges, Tom advised:

“Stay close to the problem. Go where the impact happens, in our case, that meant being underwater, not just behind screens. Understand the system deeply, then design interventions that are both elegant and practical.

“Strive to incorporate good design in all aspects of the journey. And remember, solving environmental problems isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a human one.”

Good Design Australia congratulates and thanks Hullbot for their industry-shaping design.