'Design Deserves Credit' – NSW building reforms and Interior Designers
The DIA NSW Interior Design Working Group convened a well attended session at Design Show Sydney on 14 June to hear about the latest changes being proposed for the NSW Home Building Act and the impacts on the Interior Design profession.
The session included a lively discussion about the advocacy required to expand the Design and Building Practitioners Act (DBPA) 2020 to include interior designers for all classes of building, and why the profession needs to invest in an accreditation and registration / licensing regime. Panelists drew attention to one of the core issues facing the profession i.e. being excluded as a profession from the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) National Registration Framework for Building Practitioners 2021. Refer to Table 1 NFR Disciplines on page 10. Interior Designer does not appear as a category. This framework was adopted by the NSW Government and stands as the root cause of the issue.
Panelists included:
Sarah-Jane Pyke, Director & Design Principal - Arent & Pyke
Melanie Mackenzie, Principal - TKD Architects
Diane Fernandes, Design Manager - APS Design
Jo-Ann Kellock, CEO - Design Institute of Australia
Participants overwhelmingly supported a minimum of five years experience after graduation for eligibility as a registered interior designer.
Next steps
Currently the NSW Parliamentary Public Accountability and Works Committee is conducting a review into the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 and the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) 2020. See details HERE and Terms of Reference HERE. Closing dates for submissions is 2 July 2024. All members are encouraged complete a submission identifying the impacts of not being able to registered as an interior design practitioner in the DBPA 2020 for Class 2+ buildings. You can enter a submission as an individual or an organisation by attaching a document or entering content in the para field provided.
Please help us and in turn yourselves by uploading a submission. The more the better. And finally a big thank you to our advocacy partners in UCI and Colorbond.