u/knakvk

The DIA (Design Institute of Australia) is running a campaign to ensure we get visibility as designers under various fields. Read below for the full article, link and how exactly to answer our census :)

Thought this was worth sharing here, especially since the way we describe our occupation can actually affect how the design workforce is counted.

Designing for humanity as part of humanity

>

>Write DESIGNER is a national awareness campaign for the 2026 Australian Census, presented by the Design Institute of Australia and produced by Clemenger BBDO, with spoken word by N’fa Jones and an original score by Jonah Gabriel, encouraging every designer to stand up, be counted, and help make Australia’s design workforce visible.

>Launching on 14 July 2026, the campaign rolls out across digital platforms with a single ambition: to reach every designer in Australia before Tuesday 11 August.

>What designers write on Census Night will establish the baseline for how Australia understands, values and invests in the design profession for decades to come.

>Write DESIGNER is more than a campaign; it's a collective act of advocacy for Australia's design profession. Every day, designers imagine new possibilities, challenge assumptions, solve complex problems, create value and transform 'you can't' into 'you can'. By ensuring designers are accurately counted in the Census, we're building the evidence needed to inform decision-making, shape government policy and secure greater recognition for the profession and its contribution to Australia's future.

>– Simone LeAmon, CEO, Design Institute of Australia

How to write DESIGNER in your Census form

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, or Founder, don’t stop there. If your principal occupation is practising design and/or leading design within a practice, studio, consultancy or organisation, make sure your occupation clearly identifies your design profession. Then use the main tasks question to describe the design work you undertake, along with leadership or management responsibilities. Finally, describe the industry or business of your employer.

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 more likely to be classified as a design profession. Generic titles alone for occupation 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: Design, 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

Occupation 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.

Hey! I started this subreddit because I wanted a more casual space for people in Melbourne who are interested in design and art to find each other and talk about what we’re making.

This is for graphic design, mixed media, typography, spatial design, motion, street art, architecture, art fabrication and anything else creative.

Feel free to share:

• things you’re working on (finished or unfinished)
• exhibitions, events and workshops around Melbourne
• interesting design/art you’ve seen around the city
• questions, resources or recommendations
• opportunities and collaborations
• or just random thoughts about art and design

Go ahead and start the chat below! What do you make/do, and what are you interested in at the moment?

Hopefully this can become a nice little place for Melbourne creatives to meet each other :”>

Hey! i’m based in Collingwood, and I’m looking for a rapper/electric guitarist just to film covers and post them online etc as a duo.

Some artists include xxxtentacion, shiloh dynasty, 6lack, Leon Thomas, imani imani, chase atlantic? mostly R&B

I’m a beginner female mezzo vocalist and I also have an electric guitar if you don’t have one

No pressure to be super experienced, just looking for someone who’s keen to create consistently and see where it goes.

dm me if interesteddd

Hey! i’m based in Collingwood, and I’m looking for a rapper/electric guitarist just to film covers and post them online etc as a duo.

Some artists include xxxtentacion, shiloh dynasty, 6lack, Leon Thomas, imani imani, chase atlantic? mostly R&B

I’m a beginner female mezzo vocalist and I also have an electric guitar if you don’t have one

No pressure to be super experienced, just looking for someone who’s keen to create consistently and see where it goes.

dm me if interesteddd