Extant literature research largely concludes that human activities contribute to global warming. Vulnerable communities have experienced ecosystem-related crises since the early 90 s. Moreover, based on current global temperature and environmental projections, a permanent population displacement of 200 million is anticipated by 2050. Current sustainable practices—and sustainability as a notion—are no longer sufficient to affect the fundamental shift required with the urgency necessary to positively impact resources. Thus in 2019 the United Nations’ seventy-third session on sustainable development was a call-to-action in response to the anticipated irreversible damage from climate change. The construction industry as one of the world’s worst carbon polluters is disproportionality problematic in Australia in ratio to its population. The World Green Building Council’s vision to decarbonise the sector by 2050, however, represents immense opportunity for a paradigm industry shift from sustainable modes of operation to those of regeneration. Through principle and practice, built environment professionals must persuade systemic change as achieving net positive ecologies requires aiming beyond mere impact minimisation through sustainability, but eliciting net positive dividends through regenerative design. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to identify levels of understanding and cohesive application of the term at a practice, national, and international level, and understand some of the systemic impediments, specifically in relation to (1) practical implementation and application, (2) research, and (3) benchmarking. This research undertook a systematic literature review of published scholarly literature on the topic. Supporting the notion of inconsistent awareness, understanding, and application surrounding regenerative design, the review was cross-validated with a post-hoc purposive survey of built-environment industry professionals. From this, the study highlights the critical juncture vis-à-vis the existing interdisciplinary body of knowledge for education, design, construction, planning, urban development, and policy and provides evidence to support the need for a consensus surrounding the definition of regenerative design.