Specialists Banner Debbie de Fiddes Amaroo.jpg

Debbie De Fiddes
  Managing Director

For more than 29 years Debbie de Fiddes has been the CEO of de Fiddes and has extensive experience in design for aged care, dementia and retirement living.

Debbie is a dementia design specialist, consultant, researcher and educator who is involved in projects locally, nationally and internationally.

Most recently Debbie has been appointed as an associate by the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) at the University of Stirling. The DSDC is an international centre of research and expertise dedicated to improving the lives of people living with dementia.

Debbie is not only passionate about creating beautiful environments, but importantly incorporating supportive spaces that work well for residents, staff and visitors through evidence based design. Continually striving to improve standards in design for dementia, aged care and retirement is applied to her belief that each project is an opportunity to enrich the lives of everyone. You can view de Fiddes’ extensive body of work here.

Debbie established Design Guidelines for Dementia and Aged Care for the NSW Health Department and has published numerous articles for publications, such as the Australian Journal of Dementia Care, Australian Ageing Agenda and Leading Age Services Australia’s Fusion Magazine and is the author of “Universal by Design.”

Committed to being at the forefront of innovative design, knowledge and best practice, Debbie is a regular speaker at conferences both nationally and internationally including workshop events such as ‘Designing Dementia Friendly Healthcare Facilities’ with Professor Richard Fleming and Kirsty Bennett on behalf of DTSC, University of Wollongong. Debbie co-authored in a peer reviewed journal on Designing for Dementia: Making small spaces work. The Journal of Aging and Social Change.

Debbie’s attendance at national and international conferences, such as the Eighth Ageing and Society Interdisciplinary Conference in Tokyo, Japan, enables deFiddes to stay at the forefront of industry news and ideas. Debbie was a proud finalist at the Ageing Asia Forum and Eldercare Innovation Awards for her team's outstanding project at Amaroo Buckley Caring Centre for the Best Silver Interior Design Award.