The NSW Parliamentary Public Accountability and Works Committee has released its report on the Review of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020, delivering a significant recommendation for interior designers. The full report can be viewed here.

Recommendation 2 calls on the NSW Government to “consider establishing a pathway to registration and licensing for interior designers under the Design and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021, or alternatively under the consolidated building bills and associated regulations.”

This recommendation follows DIA’s appearance before the Committee on 11th August 2025, where evidence of interior designers’ qualifications, professional competency and decades of safe practice was presented. The Committee acknowledged the profession’s legitimate claims for recognition alongside other design practitioners in the building sector.

The Committee’s report recognises that interior designers hold substantial university qualifications, carry appropriate professional indemnity insurance and have safely coordinated construction work involving building elements within enclosures for many decades.

The DIA says that it is a crucial step toward resolving the current regulatory exclusion that prevents qualified interior designers from being recognised under NSW’s building legislation. They will now work actively with the NSW Government to implement this recommendation and establish an appropriate licensing framework that reflects interior designers’ professional competency and ABS OSCA Skill Level 1 classification.

Related: Mim Fanning on the state of interior design