Good Design Awards 2025
We are thrilled to share that Impact Co. has been recognised with two Australian Good Design Award Gold Winner accolades at the 2025 Australian Good Design Awards, one of the world’s longest-running and most prestigious international design programs.
This year’s theme, “Design for Better”, highlights the power of design to create a more balanced, inclusive, and sustainable world. We’re proud that our work, alongside our partners, has been acknowledged as part of this movement for positive change.
Our Award-Winning Design Projects
- Women’s Mental Health Service - Gold Winner, Social Impact
The Royal Commission in Victoria’s Mental Health System recommended the establishment of a state-wide Women’s inpatient mental health service. A public-private partnership between Alfred Health, Ramsay Health Care and Goulburn Valley Health (referred to as the Partnership) was commissioned to design and run this service across Victoria. The Impact Co. team; Ming Low, Jacqui McKenzie and Hannah Kennedy led this design work with the Partnership to Co-Design this service which is now live.
Commissioned by Alfred Health, Wren (Women’s Recovery Network), is a 35-bed, trauma-informed, gender-sensitive program was co-designed with women to support recovery, relational healing, and reintegration across Victoria. It addresses complex mental health needs, including perinatal challenges and eating disorders, through a public-private partnership model.
"A standout example of design excellence and a truly aspirational design project that will have a profound positive impact on women who suffer from mental health challenges. Well done – a powerful example of world-class Service Design."
- Co-design for a New Aftercare Service Model for LGBTQIA+ Community Experiencing Suicidal Distress
- Gold Winner, Service Design, Public Sector Services.
Commissioned by the Victorian Department of Health, this project reimagines aftercare services through a deeply inclusive, trauma-informed approach. Co-created with community and government, it delivers a scalable, community-led alternative to conventional crisis pathways, centring identity, dignity, and agency.
The Impact Co. team led by Jacqui McKenzie, Eleanor Doran and Shehelah Dassenaike worked with Budi Sudarto, Dr Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli and Star Lady. Facilitation support was provided by Em Dewhurst, Elvis Martin, Brian Stevens and Sam Brand. The team consisted of primarily people who are LGBTIQA+, including those with a lived experience of suicidal distress to undertake the co-design process. Importantly, the project was co-led by two LGBTIQA+ individuals, one of whom has a lived experience of suicidal distress.
"An exceptional demonstration of inclusive, trauma-informed service design… This work sets an exemplar benchmark for public sector services that centre identity, dignity, and agency.”
Why This Matters
Both projects reflect our commitment to human-centred design, co-production, and social impact. They demonstrate how thoughtful design can transform systems and services, creating better outcomes for people and communities.
We’re honoured to stand alongside other innovators shaping a brighter, fairer, and more sustainable future. Congratulations to our partners, Alfred Health and the Victorian Department of Health, and to our incredible team for their dedication and creativity.
Impact Co. acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge their continuing relationship to this land, its waterways and seas and the ongoing living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia. This land always was and always will be the land of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
