Write DESIGNER

The Australian Census of Population and Housing is a national count conducted every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It captures the country’s demographic, social and economic makeup, and the data it produces is used to plan infrastructure, allocate government funding and determine electoral boundaries.

Critically, the Census is also how Australia measures its workforce. The occupation of every Australian recorded on Census Night becomes part of the official labour statistics that shape skills policy, migration settings and industry investment decisions for years to come.

The 2026 Census is a turning point for the design profession in Australia. It is the first Census to be coded entirely under the new Occupation Standard Classification for Australia (OSCA), a landmark update that, for the first time, gives design professionals their own dedicated place in the national classification system: Minor Group 242 Design Professionals, within Sub-Major Group 24, Design, Engineering and Science Professionals.

Under the previous classification system (ANZSCO), design sat beneath architecture with no independent standing. Under OSCA, design stands on its own. The 2026 responses will establish the first-ever population-wide baseline count of Australia’s design workforce under this new structure. And because the ABS will recode the 2021 Census data to OSCA from September 2026, this year’s responses will also define the historical baseline against which all future comparison is made.

The DIA has advocated for design’s standing in the national classification system for decades. The work commenced well ahead of this year’s Census: in 2002, when the ABS began developing ANZSCO, the DIA participated in the formal stakeholder consultations (2002 to 2005), advocating for the recognition of design as a professional occupation category. Design was first included in the professional occupation profiles in 2006: the formal recognition of design as a profession within Australia’s national classification system, led by then DIA President David Robertson AM LFDIA. In 2023, the DIA made two formal submissions to the ABS outlining the case for recognising all design professions within a single occupation group of their own. The December 2024 publication of OSCA delivered that outcome: design confirmed as Minor Group 242, with design occupations recognised at Skill Level 1.

In April 2026, informed by more than a thousand designers through the Make Design Count and Define Design campaigns, the DIA lodged its submission to the OSCA 2027 Update, including the case for two new occupations, Service Designer and Strategic Designer. The 2026 Census is where this decades-long effort becomes real: the moment designers write themselves into the national record.

Australia’s design workforce is one of the most economically significant professional communities in the country, and one of the most consistently underestimated. Design-related industries and workers contribute an estimated AU$67.5 billion to the Australian economy each year, more than 3.5% of GDP (IP Australia, Defining Design, 2020). That contribution is larger than Australia’s entire agricultural sector and sits in the same order of magnitude as mining and manufacturing: industries Australians instinctively regard as the bedrock of the national economy.

And yet the ABS has no reliable baseline count of how many designers work in Australia. Minor Group 242 Design Professionals carries an estimated workforce of 50,000 to 150,000, a range so wide it confirms just how invisible the profession remains. That figure can only be corrected, and built upon, if designers accurately identify themselves in the Census.

This gap exists for two reasons.

First, the classification system itself. Design profiles were first included in Australia’s professional occupation classifications in 2006, the foundational recognition of design as a profession in the national workforce framework, following DIA advocacy through the development of ANZSCO from 2002. Even then, just a small number of design occupations were recognised, grouped beneath architecture, with digital design largely absent and UX/UI designers classified under IT. For decades, many designers simply had no occupation code to be counted against, whatever they wrote on their form. OSCA changes this: Minor Group 242 Design Professionals recognises an unprecedented 11 design occupations within a dedicated group of design’s own: the fullest recognition of the profession in the history of the national classification.

Second, how designers describe themselves. Too many designers respond vaguely, or by their employer’s industry rather than their own profession. A designer working inside a company or government department is still a designer. But write “consultant”, “creative” or simply the employer’s sector, and that designer disappears from the design count entirely.

In 2026, for the first time, the classification is ready to count every designer. Now it is up to designers to write themselves in.

You cannot fund, reform, teach or reward a design workforce you cannot see.

The Census count is the single most powerful lever designers have to change how the government sees the profession. The data directly informs policy, education, funding and industry investment. A more accurate count makes design harder to overlook. Specifically, Write DESIGNER aims to:

• Establish the most accurate picture yet of Australia’s design workforce: the first national baseline under OSCA Minor Group 242 Design Professionals.

• Correct decades of undercounting by helping every designer record their occupation precisely, whatever their discipline and wherever they work.

• Build the evidence base that strengthens design’s case in government policy, skills and education planning, migration settings and industry investment.

• Support the DIA’s OSCA 2027 submission, including the case for Service Designer and Strategic Designer as recognised occupations.

• Unite the profession around a single, defining moment.

In 2026, most Australians will complete the Census online. From late July, households receive instructions in the mail with a Census number and temporary password to complete the form online, and paper forms remain available on request. Whether you complete the Census online or on paper, the occupation questions are the same, and two answers matter most.

The Census asks: “In the main job held last week, what was the person’s occupation?” and “What are the main tasks that the person usually performs in that occupation?” On the Census form, these sit within the work questions, where your occupation is recorded, coded and counted against the national classification. The ABS reads your occupation title and your main tasks together. Here is how to make both count.

Your occupation: write DESIGNER

Use your discipline and keep the word “designer” in it. For example: graphic designer or visual communication designer; industrial designer or product designer; interior designer; UX designer or user experience designer; service designer or strategic designer; fashion designer or textile designer; jewellery designer; multimedia designer or web designer.

Your main tasks: start with “Designing…”

Describe what you design. For example: “Designing brand identities and visual communications” or “Researching user needs and designing end-to-end service experiences.” A clear tasks answer can confirm your design role even where a title might be ambiguous.

If you hold a senior role, don’t stop at the title

If your title is Director, Principal, Manager, Chief Creative Officer or Founder, don’t stop there. When the Census asks for your occupation, lead with your design profession. For example:

• Graphic Design Director

• Interior Design Principal

• Industrial Design Manager

• Fashion Designer Creative Director

• Multimedia Designer Chief Executive Officer

Then, when asked about your main tasks, begin with “Designing…” and describe what you design and the design function you lead. For example: “Designing interior environments and leading a team of interior designers, setting design direction, reviewing design outcomes, managing client relationships, and overseeing project delivery.”

This matters because of how the ABS classifies senior roles. Where a job combines a profession with leadership, the ABS classifies it by the specialisation that takes up the most time, and it reads both your occupation title and your main tasks to decide. Lead with design in both answers and your role is classified as a design profession. Generic titles alone may not identify you as a design professional.

If you work in-house at a non-design organisation

The industry question refers to your employer’s business: Manufacturing, Construction, Health Care, Financial Services, Government and more. Your occupation question is entirely separate. Your employer’s industry does not change your occupation: a designer in a bank, hospital or government department is still a designer. Write your design profession and describe your design tasks.

What to avoid

Titles like “Creative”, “Consultant”, “Director”, “Manager”, “Founder”, “Freelancer” or “Self-employed” used on their own does not describe a design occupation. They will be coded into management or generic categories, not design.

If your occupation title appears below, you are recognised as a design professional in Minor Group 242. Find the occupation that best matches your work and write it in your Census form. Many disciplines contain more than one occupation name: check the alternative titles under each occupation, because any of them will be recognised and coded correctly by the ABS. The full classification is published on the ABS OSCA website.

Unit Group 2421 Digital Designers

• 242131 Multimedia Designer. Alternative titles: Digital Media Designer, Interactive Media Designer, Motion Graphics Designer, Interactive Learning Designer, Digital Content Producer.

• 242132 UI/UX Designer. Alternative titles: UX Designer, User Interface Designer, Interaction Designer, Product Designer, Accessibility Designer, Voice Interface Designer.

• 242133 Web Designer.

Unit Group 2422 Fashion, Industrial, Jewellery and Textile Designers

• 242231 Fashion Designer. Alternative titles: Costume Designer, Apparel Designer, Garment Designer, Womenswear Designer, Menswear Designer, Childrenswear Designer, Footwear Designer, Accessories Designer, Sustainable Fashion Designer.

• 242232 Industrial Designer. Alternative titles: Product Designer, Product Development Designer, Medical Device Designer, Furniture Designer, Packaging Designer, Lighting Designer, Transport Designer, Consumer Electronics Designer.

• 242233 Jewellery Designer. Alternative titles: Goldsmith, Silversmith, Jewellery Maker, Jewellery Designer-Maker, Fine Jewellery Designer, Contemporary Jewellery Artist, Holloware Designer, Wearable Technology Designer.

• 242234 Textile Designer. Alternative titles: Fabric Designer, Surface Designer, Print Designer, Woven Textile Designer, Printed Textile Designer, Technical Textile Designer, Embroidery Designer, Knit Designer.

Unit Group 2423 Graphic and Visual Content Designers

• 242331 Animator / VFX Artist. Alternative titles: Animator, Visual Effects Artist, VFX Artist, Motion Graphics Designer, 3D Animator, Character Animator, VFX Compositor, Technical Director, Concept Artist, Storyboard Artist.

• 242332 Graphic Designer. Alternative titles: Visual Communication Designer, Communication Designer, Brand Designer, Brand Identity Designer, Packaging Designer, Publication Designer, Wayfinding Designer, Environmental Graphic Designer, Data Visualisation Designer.

• 242333 Illustrator. Alternative titles: Graphic Recorder, Editorial Illustrator, Scientific Illustrator, Technical Illustrator, Children’s Book Illustrator, Medical Illustrator, Data Visualiser, Graphic Novelist, Fashion Illustrator, Courtroom Artist.

Unit Group 2424 Interior Designers

• 242431 Interior Designer. Alternative titles: Interior Architect, Interior Design Consultant, Commercial Interior Designer, Residential Interior Designer, Retail Interior Designer, Hospitality Designer, Healthcare Interior Designer, Workplace Designer.

Service and Strategic Designers: proposed for OSCA 2027

Service Designers and Strategic Designers are not yet recorded as discrete occupations in the national classification. The DIA’s OSCA 2027 submission formally proposes both. If this is your work, write your real title, Service Designer or Strategic Designer, and describe your design tasks. Every response is direct evidence for the DIA’s case for new codes in the next update.

Not every design professional sits within 242 Design Professionals, and this campaign is here to support you too. Design has never respected a border. Designers work across every industry sector, and no classification framework was ever going to hold all of us in one box. Wherever OSCA files your occupation, you are part of Australia’s design story, and you deserve to be recognised and counted alongside the rest of the profession.

So, in the true spirit of design, where a problem worth solving is a problem shared, we are here to help you be counted. Several design occupations are recognised elsewhere in the classification, where the relevant peak bodies and organisations have led parallel advocacy for their professions. If your practice sits in one of the groups below, write your recognised title so you are counted where your profession currently lives in the framework:

• Urban Designers: 241133 Urban Designer, within Unit Group 2411 Architects, Landscape Architects and Urban Designers, under Minor Group 241 Architects, Planners and Surveyors.

• Screen and Live Performance Designers: 231437 Screen or Live Performance Designer, within Unit Group 2314 Media Directors and Designers, under Minor Group 231 Arts and Media Professionals. This occupation captures costume, lighting, set and production designers working in screen and live performance.

• Digital Games Designers and Developers: 273131 Digital Game Developer, within Unit Group 2731 Digital Game and Web Developers, under 27 ICT Professionals. The ABS recognises Digital Game Designer as a specialisation of this occupation.

Recognised design occupations also sit within Major Group 3 Technicians and Trades Workers:

• Building Designers: 312132 Building Designer, within Unit Group 3121 Building and Landscape Designers and Technicians, under Minor Group 312 Building and Construction Technicians. Alternative titles: Architectural Associate, Architectural Draftsperson.

• Landscape Designers: 312134 Landscape Designer, also within Unit Group 3121 Building and Landscape Designers and Technicians.

• Irrigation Designers: 311136 Irrigation Designer, within Unit Group 3111 Agricultural Technicians and Inspection Officers, under Minor Group 311 Agricultural, Health and Science Technicians. Alternative title: Irrigation Planner.

• Telecommunications Network Designers: 314134 Telecommunications Network Designer, within Unit Group 3141 ICT and Telecommunications Technicians, under Minor Group 314 ICT and Telecommunications Technicians and Support Officers. Alternative title: Telecommunications Network Planner.

Whichever group your occupation belongs to, the principle is the same: write your specific professional title, describe what you design, and be counted.

Write DESIGNER is a collaboration between the Design Institute of Australia and Clemenger BBDO, with ARIA Award-winning artist N'fa Jones, composer Jonah Gabriel, and many of Australia's leading designers, studios and businesses contributing their time and talents to make the nation's design profession visible.

At the heart of the campaign is a sixty-second film. Over Jonah Gabriel's score, N'fa Jones repeats a simple provocation: you can't. Can't hear. Can't see. Can't breathe. Can't be heard. Can't feel seen. With each refusal, the film responds: designers prove you can.

From restoring the senses and caring for the planet to shaping culture, driving enterprise and productivity, celebrating ingenuity, strengthening communities and sharing Australian imagination with the world, the film reveals the extraordinary breadth of contemporary Australian design.

Spanning medical devices, consumer products, fashion, jewellery, visual communication, service design, transport, interiors, wayfinding and public infrastructure, the works featured demonstrate how design is woven into everyday life. Together, they reveal the many ways designers help us hear, see, breathe, move, communicate, belong, imagine and make.

The campaign is both a celebration of Australian design and an invitation to recognise the profession behind it. It invites every designer, regardless of discipline or practice, to see themselves as part of something larger. On Census Night, that sense of belonging becomes action by proudly writing DESIGNER and helping make Australia's design workforce visible.

Featured designers and studios

Leah Heiss and Blamey Saunders hears / OOXii Global Pty Ltd / Portable / RØDE Microphones / Committee for Melbourne / Free 3D Hands / Cobalt Design / Marc Newson / Romance Was Born / Blackmagic Design / Balarinji and Maringka Baker / Carbon Creative / PACCAR Australia for Kenworth Australia / Ludo Studio / HemPanel / Wonki Pty Ltd / Reef Design Lab / Büro North / Hanes Australasia t.a Bonds / Carr / Tonkin Zulaikha Greer / BAU and Grant Amon Architects / Alfred Lowe / Blanche Tilden / Matter of Sorts

The DIA thanks Clemenger BBDO and every designer, studio and rights holder who contributed their work to this campaign. Full campaign credits and captions are published HERE.

Key dates

• 14 July 2026: Write DESIGNER campaign launches nationally.

• Late July 2026: Census information arrives by mail. Most households receive a letter with a Census number and temporary password, with instructions to complete the Census online. Paper forms remain available on request, and some households, particularly in regional or remote areas, will automatically receive one.

• Tuesday 11 August 2026: Census Night. Write DESIGNER.

Resources

• Census toolkit: guide to completing the Census form on 11 August

• Campaign credits and image captions

• Social media sharing guide:  film, social tiles and approved copy for studios and design teams, available from 14 July.

• Media release

• OSCA Minor Group 242 Design Professionals: full list of occupations and recognised alternative titles (ABS)

• About the Census: common questions (ABS)

• DIA submission to the OSCA 2027 Update

• Make Design Count: the national survey behind the DIA’s submission

• Campaign enquiries: community@design.org.au