The Swinburne University of Technology (or simply Swinburne) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia. It is the modern descendant of the Eastern Suburbs Technical College established in 1908, renamed Swinburne Technical College in 1913 after its co-founders George and Ethel Swinburne. It has three campuses in metropolitan Melbourne: Hawthorn, where its main campus is located; Wantirna; and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, as well the Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus in the

East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...

n state of

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. It also offers courses online and through its partnered institutions in Australia and overseas. The university offers study programs in

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, teacher education,

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

and various other fields including in

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

and

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

s. It also offers

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

(PhD) research programs and courses in

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with req ...

History

Swinburne University - Administration Building - panoramio

The university began in 1908 as the community-owned Eastern Suburbs Technical College on John Street, Hawthorn, to provide further education to residents of Melbourne's eastern suburbs. George Swinburne MLA, with the backing of Premier Thomas Bent, was the driving force behind its establishment, and its most generous benefactor, hence the name of the university. By 1913, £10,111 had been spent on its establishment, of which £3,718 came from private donations (including £1,000 each from George and Ethel Swinburne), and the remainder from the government. The first director was the sculptor J. R. Tranthim-Fryer, who remained in the position until 1938. In 1913 the institution was taken over by the State Government, and its name changed to Swinburne Technical College. It later became known as the Swinburne Institute of Technical and Further Education ( TAFE), eventually shortened to Swinburne Institute of Technology. In the late 1980s, the Outer Eastern University Planning Council advocated for a new university to be established in outer eastern Melbourne. The area had the second lowest university participation rate in Melbourne, after the Mornington Peninsula. Partially in response to this advocacy, in 1990 Swinburne established its "Eastern Campus" in Mooroolbark (sometimes described as Lilydale), on the site of the recently closed MDA Grammar School. However, students could not attend until 1992 due to council planning negotiation, and the campus was officially opened on 6 April 1992. By 1993, it was known as the "Mooroolbark Campus". The Dawkins reforms to Australian higher education in the early 1990s led to many tertiary colleges being merged or split-up, and many given university status. On 1 January 1992, the university was given the Prahran Campus of Victoria College and the co-located Prahran College of TAFE, both of which had evolved from the Prahran Mechanics' Institute (established in 1854). Swinburne attained university status on 1 July 1992 with the passage of the ''Swinburne University of Technology Act 1992. Swinburne Techincal College 1940

In 1997, Swinburne opened a campus at Lilydale, replacing its nearby one at Mooroolbark. In 1998, it merged with the Outer East Institute of TAFE and began operating from campuses at

and Wantirna. In 1999, Swinburne established the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA). In 2000, the university opened a campus in

, Malaysia, as a partnership between the university and the Sarawak State Government: Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. In 2008, it collaborated with two other universities in forming The Centre for Social Impact. In February 2011, the university opened the Advanced Technologies Centre, a 22,000 square metre building of modern architectural design at its Hawthorn campus, known locally as "the cheese grater building". Following a series of funding cuts announced by the Victorian Government to vocational education in May 2012, Swinburne announced that it would close its Lilydale and Prahran campuses. Lilydale campus officially closed on 1 July 2013, and was taken over by Box Hill Institute in 2016. The university sold its Prahran campus to the Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE in 2014. The site became the home of NICA, and in 2022 was acquired by the Victorian Government, along with Melbourne Polytechnic on the same site. NICA's degrees have been administered by the university and this will continue until the end of 2025, when they will be transferred to the Australian College of the Arts (Collarts). In 2015, Swinburne launched its law school. Through a partnership with Leo Cussen Centre for Law, Swinburne Law School is the only law school in Victoria accredited by the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (VLAB) to enable students to accelerate their admission to legal practice by completing their practical legal training during the final year of their studies.

Swinburne Film and Television School

The Swinburne Film and Television School, which offered the first tertiary course in filmmaking in the country, was founded in 1966 by filmmaker Brian Clark Robinson (1934–1991). Part of what was the Graphic Art School became Film and Television, led by Robinson. The first course offered, from 1966, was the Diploma of Art in Film and Television, which was the first such course to be offered in Australia. In 1967 it was known as the Film and Television course of the School of Art. In 1976, Swinburne formed a department of film and television, with Robinson was appointed its head. Swinburne introduced a Graduate Diploma in Applied Film and Television, offering film, television, and

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

courses. This was highly successful, with most of the graduates being employed in the industry afterwards. Evans, T. (1983)
Swinburne Film and Television School
, ''Media Information Australia''. St Lucia, QLD. (27), pp. 19–24 . By 1983, the school offered a three-year Diploma in Film an TV, for school-leavers, as well as the graduate diploma, with over 90% of graduates finding employment in the film and television industries. In 1987, when Robinson was appointed dean of the faculty of arts at the university, Jennifer Sabine became head of the school, but Robinson continued to teach scriptwriting. In September 1991 Swinburne Film and Television School celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 1992, the ownership and management of the school was handed over to the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music (FFAM). It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus ...

, becoming the VCA Film and Television School. In 1996, Barbara Paterson published ''Renegades: Australia's first film school: from Swinburne to VCA'', based on her 1993 masters thesis, "Portrait of a film school : the history of the Victorian College of the Arts School of Film and Television, formerly known as Swinburne Film and Television School". Swinburne School of Film and Television (SSFT) teaches filmmaking at Swinburne, and is a full member of CILECT (the International Association of Film and Television Schools).

Structure and governance

The university is governed by the ''Swinburne University of Technology Act 2010'', by which the Governor of Victoria is its visitor. the

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

and president is Pascale Quester and the

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

John Pollaers (appointed 2019). It is governed by the university council, run by the executive team, while the Academic Senate advises the council on the conduct and content of programs and courses. There were 2,720 total members of staff as of 30 June 2023, and its budget was 834.13

million 1,000,000 (one million), or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian ''millione'' (''milione'' in modern Italian), from ''mille'', "thousand", plus the ...

Schools

, Swinburne's

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

branch comprises six schools: * School of Business, Law and Entrepreneurship * School of Design and Architecture * School of Engineering * School of Health Sciences * School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies * School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education **The School of Social Sciences, Media, Film and Education comprises: the Department of Education; Department of Film, Games and Animation; Department of Humanities and Social Sciences; Department of Media and Communication; Centre for Transformative Media Technologies; and the Centre for Urban Transition. ***The Swinburne School of Film and Television (SSFT), within the Department of Film, Games and Animation teaches filmmaking, and is a full member of CILECT (the International Association of Film and Television Schools).

Other divisions, entities, and partnerships

Swinburne University of Technology also provides

and training via five departments: * Department of Business, Design, Media and ICT * Department of Health, Science and Community * Department of Trades and Engineering Technologies * Knox Innovation, Opportunity and Sustainability Centre * Swinburne Edge Swinburne Student Life, which arranges O-week and provides support to students, is a controlled entity. Swinburne Sarawak (a campus in

, Malaysia) and Swinburne Online are associated entities, while Swinburne University is in partnership with six other universities in

Open Universities Australia Open Universities Australia (OUA) is an online higher education organisation based in Australia. The organisation was previously known as the Open Learning Agency of Australia. The chairman is Professor Bruce S. Dowton and the chief executive o ...

. It partners with UP Education running Swinburne College and Swinburne Open Education.

Academic profile

Swinburne's research and innovation outputs are presented in the ''Swinburne Research Impact Magazine''. It has functioning partnerships with industry, is known for its

-centered and catalytic revolvement educational spheres, and is the only academic institution in Melbourne that offers pilot training as part of its

degrees. Swinburne has its own cross-departmental innovation studio, which aims to speed up development and marketing of new ventures. Swinburne researchers participate in international partnerships. It also has international academic partnerships/affiliations with US institutions,

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design as well as

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Research divisions

, Swinburne has six

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

s: *Data Science Research Institute (launched 2017) *Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute (launched 2017) *Manufacturing Futures Research Institute (launched 2016) *Smart Cities Research Institute (launched 2017) *Social Innovation Research Institute (launched 2017) *Space Technology and Industry Institute (2021) The Swinburne Institute for Social Research formerly (until 2017) existed within the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, It included the Public Interest Journalism Foundation (PIJ Foundation), which produced YouComm News. As of 2020, PIJF has evolved into an independent organisation, now named Public Interest Journalistic Freedom, which is partially

crowd-funded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

. The Centre for Social Impact Swinburne (CSI Swin), established in 2014, is (was?) in the Faculty of Business and Law. It is part of the national network that also includes the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

, the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

. There are many other research centres, including the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, the Centre for Mental Health, and the Centre for Human Psychopharmacology.

Academic reputation

In the 2024 ''Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities'', which measures aggregate performance across the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, the university attained a position of #238 (18th nationally). ; National publications In the ''Australian Financial Review'' Best Universities Ranking 2024, the university was ranked #15 amongst Australian universities. ; Global publications In the 2025 '' Quacquarelli Symonds''

World University Rankings College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

(published 2024), the university attained a tied position of #291 (19th nationally). In the ''Times Higher Education'' World University Rankings 2025 (published 2024), the university attained a position of #251–300 (tied 14–19th nationally). In the 2024 ''

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

'', the university attained a position of #201–300 (14th nationally). In the 2024–2025 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global Universities, the university attained a position of #142 (10th nationally). In the '' CWTS Leiden Ranking'' 2024, the university attained a position of #426 (18th nationally).

Student outcomes

The Australian Government's QILT conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment. These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts. In the 2023 Employer Satisfaction Survey, graduates of the university had an overall employer satisfaction rate of 84.2%. In the 2023 Graduate Outcomes Survey, graduates of the university had a full-time employment rate of 75.6% for undergraduates and 87.2% for postgraduates. The initial full-time salary was for undergraduates and for postgraduates. In the 2023 Student Experience Survey, undergraduates at the university rated the quality of their entire educational experience at 78.1% meanwhile postgraduates rated their overall education experience at 78.1%.

Campuses and buildings

Greater Melbourne

*The Hawthorn campus is Swinburne's main campus. It hosts a range of vocational, undergraduate, and postgraduate programs. * Wantirna is a TAFE-specific campus. The campus also offers courses in areas including health and community services, visual arts, business and accounting. *The university's

campus is a TAFE-specific campus, with a focus on training in trades such as building, carpentry, electrical and plumbing.

Malaysia

The Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus is located in

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

, Malaysia.

Others

The

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

campus, west of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, is located in a public library building as a tenant. Swinburne offers study programs in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

media studies Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, Da Nang, and

Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

through its partnership with FPT University.

Online education

The university's online arm, Swinburne Online, was founded in 2011 after a 50-50 joint venture with SEEK Learning seeking to capitalise on increasing demand for off-campus education. Swinburne Online was originally created under the name Swinburne Direct, with an initial $10 million investment. It was formed to maximise the Federal Government's decision to lift caps on Commonwealth-supported university places from 2012, a policy which intended to increase the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with bachelor's degrees to 40 per cent by 2025. Swinburne Online originally provided higher education degrees at both bachelor and masters level. As of April 2015, it offered over twenty courses in business, communication, design, education, and social science. However, as of September 2015, Swinburne Online has begun offering vocational education. In April 2015, CEO Denice Pitt expressed a public desire to expand internationally to offer degrees to international students. In 2014 Swinburne Online was ranked fourth in Australia's 100 fastest growing companies. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew by 48% to $29.8 million in 2014–15.

Student life

Student union

Swinburne Student Union (SSU) is the independent student representative body of Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Membership is opt-in for all students.

Notable people

Academics and staff

* Nigel Buesst, filmmaker * Monte Punshon taught here from 1956 until her retirement in 1959 * L. Scott Pendlebury (1914–1986): landscape and portrait artist; instructor (1946–1963), head of art school (1963–1974) at Swinburne Technical College * Peter Tammer, filmmaker and lecturer * David Williamson: Australian dramatist and playwright (lectured in engineering and psychology)

Notable alumni

Swinburne Film and Television School alumni

Gillian Armstrong Gillian May Armstrong (born 18 December 1950) is an Australian feature film and documentary film director, director, best known for ''My Brilliant Career (film), My Brilliant Career'' (1979), ''Mrs. Soffel'' (1984), ''High Tide (1987 film), Hi ...

: director * Garth Davis: director *

Andrew Dominik Andrew Dominik (born 7 October 1967) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He has directed the crime film '' Chopper'' (2000), the Western drama film '' The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' (2007), the neo-n ...

: director * Paul Goldman: director * Geoffrey Hall:

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

* Mark Hartley: director * John Hillcoat * Clayton Jacobson: director * Chris Kennedy * Michael Leunig, cartoonist * Richard Lowenstein: director * Nique Needles: artist, musician, and actor * John Ruane: director * Sarah Watt: director

Others

* David Baden-Powell hereditary peer and scout leader * Steph Catley: Australian footballer * Margaret Gurney: Australian artist (Swinburne Technical College) * Sam Hammington: comedian * Amanda Howard: true crime writer and serial killer specialist * Bridget Hustwaite,

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

radio presenter, television presenter, journalist and author * Wahid Supriyadi: Indonesian diplomat * Houman Younessi: International authority and expert on

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

Footnotes

References

External links

University websiteAccredition information
at Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency {{DEFAULTSORT:Swinburne University of Technology Technical universities and colleges in Australia Australian vocational education and training providers Universities in Melbourne TAFE Colleges in Melbourne 1992 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1992 Science and technology in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Boroondara Buildings and structures in the City of Knox Buildings and structures in the City of Maroondah

History

Swinburne Film and Television School

Structure and governance

Schools

Other divisions, entities, and partnerships

Academic profile

Research divisions

Academic reputation

Student outcomes

Campuses and buildings

Greater Melbourne

Malaysia

Others

Online education

Student life

Student union

Notable people

Academics and staff

Notable alumni

Swinburne Film and Television School alumni

Others

See also

Footnotes

References

External links