An Interior Designers plans, designs, details and supervises the construction of commercial, industrial, retail and residential building interiors to produce an environment tailored to a purpose, with particular emphasis on space creation, space planning, and factors that enhance living and working environments.
Occupation description
An Interior Designers plans, designs, details and supervises the construction of commercial, industrial, retail and residential building interiors to produce an environment tailored to a purpose, with particular emphasis on space creation, space planning, and factors that enhance living and working environments.
Occupations considered suitable under this ANZSCO code:
- Commercial Interior Designer
- Environmental Designer
- Residential Interior Designer
- Retail Interior Designer
Occupations not considered suitable under this ANZSCO code:
- Architect
- Architectural Draftsperson
- Architectural, Building and Surveying Technicians nec
- Interior Decorator
- Civil Engineering Draftsperson
- Visual Merchandisers
These occupations are classified elsewhere in ANZSCO or are not at the required skill level.
Interior Designer is a VETASSESS Group C occupation
This occupation requires a qualification assessed as comparable to the educational level of an Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Diploma or higher.
Applicants must have fulfilled at least one of the following four criteria (1-4):
* Additional qualifications in a highly relevant field of study include those comparable to the following levels:
- AQF Diploma
- AQF Advanced Diploma
- AQF Associate Degree or
- AQF Graduate Diploma
** Highly relevant paid employment duration (20 hours or more per week)
1-3
minimum years of employment highly relevant to the nominated occupation, completed at an appropriate skill level in the five years before the date of application for a Skills Assessment.
4
minimum 4 years of relevant employment required – three years of relevant employment (can be outside the last 5-year period) in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment within the last five years before applying.
Qualification and Employment Criteria
Employment
Highly relevant tasks include, but are not limited to:
- Determining the objectives and constraints of the design brief by consulting with clients and stakeholders.
- Researching and analysing spatial, functional, efficiency, safety and aesthetic requirements.
- Formulating design concepts for building interiors.
- Preparing sketches, diagrams, illustrations and plans to communicate design concepts.
- Negotiating design solutions with clients, management, suppliers and construction staff.
- Selecting, specifying and recommending functional and aesthetic materials, furniture and products for interiors.
- Detailing and documenting selected design for construction.
- Supervising the construction of interiors.
Additional tasks may include:
- May work with architects in the preparation of plans.
- Estimating costs and materials required and presenting plans and quotes to clients for approval.
- Designing original furnishings and joinery to conform with a proposed scheme.
Employment information
In order to be considered as an Interior Designer, applicants are required to demonstrate employment in a role that is primarily focused on project work specific to the design of interior spaces. This should entail a development of the overall interior spatial experiences for occupants by designing the layout, lighting, colour, fixtures and furnishings to meet the client’s brief and requirements. Suitable project involvements can vary and may be related to various typologies such as residential, commercial (including offices and retail) and institutional (including cultural and educational). You may also design interiors for ships, aircraft or other transport vehicles.
Categories of acceptable employment contexts include, but are not limited to:
- Interior Design company
- Architectural company
- Property development companies
- Independent contractor/self-employed
If the primary focus of your employment experience relates to other forms of design/drafting such as architectural, engineering, visual merchandising or limited to particular elements such as lighting only or furniture only, then an application under Interior Design would not be recommended. Some of these activities are identified elsewhere by ANZSCO, and would not hold relevance under the occupation of Interior Designer.
Interior Designers may also establish their own private practice or be self-employed. Please refer to ‘Supporting Material for Assessment’ for documentation requirements relating to self-employed applicants.
Supporting material for assessment
When applying for a Skills Assessment, please ensure you submit sufficient evidence supporting your proof of identity, qualification and employment claims. A full list of the documents required can be found on the VETASSESS website under Eligibility Criteria.
To further support your employment claims, you must also provide supplementary documentation to demonstrate your Interior Designer duties. A portfolio showing project documentation examples and project lists would be appropriate for this purpose. Please provide a link to your portfolio or upload samples of your design work, of no more than 5MB per sample, in your online application submission.
If you are nominating this occupation, and you are self employed, you are required to provide the following:
- Evidence of self-employment such as sole trading or business registration details and/or official statements issued by your (registered) accountant and/or legal team. The statement from your accountant or solicitor must include the accountant’s or solicitor’s letterhead, your full name, how long you have been continuously self-employed (including official dates in each role), the nature of the business conducted, and the signature and contact details of the accountant or solicitor.
- A statutory declaration listing your main duties during self-employment;
- Payment evidence showing regular income from self-employment, such as client invoices together with corresponding bank statements and/or official taxation records;
- Supplementary evidence, such as contracts with clients or suppliers, client testimonials, evidence of projects completed, etc.
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