Organisational history

The Society of Interior Designers of Australia (SIDA) was a national organization which established the profession by determining practitioners’ eligibility and instigating professional codes of practice, improving tertiary education and promoting their work to the general public. Mary White, Don Johnston, Edmund Dykes, Don Shaw, Stuart Low, Margaret Lord and Marion Hall Best met in December 1950 to discuss a society to raise the standard of interior design in Australia. In 1951 the Society of Interior Designers was launched at a party attended by 80 supporters, with Johnston the first President of 20 members. Society membership lent designers credibility in an era when recognised qualifications were limited.

The organisation was initially called the Society of Interior Designers (SID) but with the addition of 'Australia' to the name in 1964, the name changed to Society of Interior Designers of Australia (and the acronym to SIDA). In that same year - 1964 - SIDA underwent an organisational overhaul when it was incorporated under the companies’ act. But the mission remained the same: ‘to advance the standards of interior design and decoration, to uphold a code of ethics and professional practices, to promote educational programmes with a view to improving the art of interior design and decoration.’ Leaders met in designers’ homes and, after 1977, at their national headquarters in Paddington. Sub-committees on education, exhibition rooms, wholesale and retail liaison, publicity and social events, worked hard to generate income and fulfil the mission of the society.

The 1970s saw a rapid increase in younger, independent designers as its membership reached more than 150. Interstate chapters were instigated in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia as SIDA became truly national. Strict control on admission and ethics meant the Society protected its status as a credible professional body, resisting pressure in the 1980s to become an industry association.

In 1998, SIDA amalgamated with the Design Institute of Australia (DIA), which became the official voice of interior designers in Australia. However, SIDA continued as the SIDA Foundation but with a more limited role as a type of Trust to provide money for scholarships, seminars and other worthwhile purposes involving interior design.  In 2017, the SIDA Foundation was deregistered and its assets disbursed.

For more information on SIDA and its history, click here…