The Australian Good Design Awards, formerly known as the Australian International Design Awards and as the Australian Design Awards, is an Australian awards program operated by Good Design Australia. The awards program was originally established in 1958 by the Industrial Design Council of Australia (IDCA), and recognizes achievements in industrial design.
The Australian International Design Awards has been recognized by the Commonwealth Government and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design[1] as a promotional body for the Australian design industry.
There are five types of accolades issued in the Australian Good Design Awards program:[2]
Special Awards include:
In 1958 the Industrial Design Council of Australia (IDCA) was established[4] and funded by the Commonwealth Government. The goal was to educate manufacturers and consumers on the value of design and promote high standards of design in manufactured goods.
In 1964, the IDCA opened the first Australian Design Centre in Melbourne with an exhibition of selected products from the Australian Design Index. Federal and state government funding helped establish a new Design Centre in Sydney, with more centres in other cities.
In 1967 the Prince Philip Prize for Australian Design was set up, supported by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to promote greater awareness of good design in Australian engineering. The inaugural Prince Philip Prize was awarded in 1968.[5] Over 90 entries were received and the winning entry was a self-propelled grain header, designed by Kenneth Gibson. The Prince Philip Prize continued for twenty years.
Recognizing not only high-quality but innovative Australian-designed products, the Australian Design Award (ADA) program became a promotional tool for manufacturers and designers and provided a source of revenue for the IDCA to continue its operations. The Prince Philip Prize continued to be awarded, but only to products that had received the ADA.
Televised coverage of the Awards presentation on ABC TV reached audiences of over four million and in 1979, the first annual yearbook of ADA winners was published.
For the next two decades, however, continuing funding issues, dwindling industry support and a lack of direction was an issue with the IDCA. In 1987 to reinvigorate the movement, the government re-launched the IDCA as the Australian Design Council and the Prince Philip Prize was folded, leaving the ADA as Australia's top design accolade.
In 1991, control of the Australian Design Council and the ADA program moved to Standards Australia. Under Standards Australia, the ADA program continued to run, but the Australian Design Council was disbanded in 1993. New formats and incentives for the ADA program such as the Australian Design Mark certification scheme were trialed during the second half of the '90s without success. In 1997 a revamped format was introduced to the Awards, using an online application form and first-round internet shortlisting. It attracted more than one hundred applications. The first Presentation Night was held at the Metro Theatre in Sydney. In 1998, profession-based categories were introduced.
However, the program was threatened by significant operating costs. The 1999 program was put on hold while Standards Australia explored other options to secure the future of the awards. The majority of staff was made redundant and for the first time in many years, no Design Awards were presented in Australia. The Design Institute of Australia was approached to take over the program but declined the financial commitment.
In 2008, on the 50th anniversary of the awards program, internationally designed products available for sale in Australia were allowed to enter the awards for the first time.[6]
In late 2010, Standards Australia transferred the awards program to a new organization called Good Design Australia.[7]
In 2015, the awards were renamed as the Australian Good Design Awards.[7]
Previous winners include: