- Company TypeArchitecture & Design
- Est. Since1947
About Design Institute of Australia
The formation of the Design Institute of Australia
The Society of Designers for Industry was formed in about 1947 and was followed just over a decade later with the incorporation of the Industrial Design Institute of Australia in Melbourne in 1958.Bill Gillam, a professional Association Manager employed by the Victorian Employers' Federation, was appointed the first Federal Executive Secretary of the Institute. On his advice, the Memorandum and Articles of the Institute were completely redrafted together with Federal Council By-Laws setting out a model Constitution governing the administration of Chapters. A Federal financing system was implemented and a national membership register established on the basis of records supplied by the original Chapters which were operating very informally.
The Institute was already a member of ICSID, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.The Institute was granted membership of the International Federation of Interior Designers (IFI) in October 1982 and in December, the name of the organisation was changed to the Design Institute of Australia.
On 1 July, 1998, the Design Institute of Australia, Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA) and the Australian Textile Design Association (ATDA) were amalgamated. The DIA became a Federal body and Chapters were replaced with Branch Councils.