Graduates of the Year Awards

The Graduates of the Year Awards (GOTYA) is the DIA’s flagship program for early career designers, established in 2003 to celebrate and nurture Australian design practitioners at the outset of their careers.

Australia’s only program of its kind, GOTYA uniquely brings leading design professionals and industry figures directly into the review process of graduates’ work, giving educators and early career designers access to expert evaluation and industry perspectives.

Award Categories

Graduates are entered, via nomination, into one of four categories, each intended to capture the distinct ways in which design manifests across contexts.

PLACE — The places we live, work and play

Including interior design, exhibition and set design, retail, hospitality, healthcare and workplace design, playground design, wayfinding, and design for public spaces and landscapes.

USE — The objects and artefacts we use

Including industrial design, product design, furniture and lighting design, homewares and home appliances, electronics and wearable technology, fashion and textile design, jewellery and metalsmithing, packaging design, and sustainable and circular design.

INTERACT — How we interact with the world around us

Including interaction design, UX and UI design, digital media and digital experience design, game design and immersive environments, service design, strategic design and emerging practice in AI technology and generative design.

CONVEY — The way we communicate and share information

Including graphic design, visual communication, typography and brand identity, illustration, motion design and animation, editorial and publication design, information design and data visualisation, signage and environmental graphics, and social and digital content design.

Australia's universities, TAFEs and registered training organisations nominate their most outstanding graduates spanning a wide range of design disciplines. Submissions are anonymously evaluated by an expert jury, with the strongest applicants advancing to a finalist interview round, where early career designers get to shine in front of the people who matter most in their industry.

GOTYA is a powerful launchpad into the Australian design industry, recognising design talent across categories, states and territories, higher education and vocational courses, with winners making connections that can shape a design career for years to come.

The Graduates of the Year Awards are generously supported by Stylecraft.

GOTYA 2026 wordmark by Sean Hogan, Trampoline.

Awards

Awards are presented across both entry levels, Higher Education and Vocational, at state and territory level and national level, spanning all four award categories and culminating in the most prestigious honour in the program, the Madeline Lester Award.

State and Territory Category Winners — Higher Education
State and Territory Category Winners — Vocational
Overall State and Territory Winners
National Category Winners — Higher Education
National Category Winners — Vocational
Overall National Winner — Madeline Lester Award

Past Award Winners

How to Enter

Education providers are asked to review this Information Pack carefully.
Submitting a nomination confirms acceptance of all GOTYA Terms and Conditions.

Download Information Pack

Download Terms & Conditions