The Victorian Design Challenge is a two-stage design competition that comprises an open request for proposals, following a design stage for those shortlisted. The Challenge invites Victorian school students (primary and secondary) and professional designers, engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators from around Australia and aims to highlight the capacity and responsibility of designers to contribute to shifting behaviour, raising awareness, redesigning products, or devising smart end-of-life solutions that reduce the negative impacts of e-waste.

Sam Barrett won the professional category with EcoElectronics, a design guide that revolutionises the way engineers and designers specify components that make up commercial and consumer products. The tertiary category winner is Phoebe Richardson with We’re all Toast, a four-part podcast that investigates the environmental and social impact of our love affair with cheap and convenient electronic goods. The student category winner is Finlay Van Lieshout and Kai Van Lieshout with The Ez-Recycle App, a purpose-built App to manage e-waste by extending the useful life of electronic devices and motivating users to properly recycle electronics.