Deakin University

Deakin University was established as a merger between State College of Victoria, Geelong (formerly Geelong Teachers College), and the higher education courses of the Gordon Institute of Technology, which originally opened in 1887 as the Gordon Memorial Technical College. The vocational part of the Gordon continues separately as the Gordon Institute of TAFE.

Deakin University was formally established with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974. Deakin University's first campus was established at Waurn Ponds, previously a campus of the Gordon Institute of Technology.

The Burwood campus is on the site of the former Burwood Teachers' College (established in 1954). That college began by conducting two-year training courses for primary school teachers, and three year courses for infant teachers (females only).

As part of the Dawkins education reforms that were announced in 1988 by the Commonwealth government, a merger with Warrnambool Institute of Advanced Education took place in 1990, which was followed by a merger with most of Victoria College in 1991, including its campuses in Burwood, Malvern and Clayton.

The former Toorak Campus, located in Malvern, was offered for sale in 2006 as the university considered the campus surplus to its requirements. The courses and resources were relocated to the Melbourne Burwood campus in November 2007. As a Deakin campus, it was home to the Deakin Business School, Deakin University English Language Institute (DUELI), and the Melbourne Institute of Business and Technology, which have now become the Deakin College.

The main building on the site was the 116-year-old Stonnington Mansion The sale of Stonnington Mansion by Deakin provoked public outrage as it involved the mansion which was at risk of redevelopment by property developers. The Stonnington Stables art gallery and the university's contemporary art collection were located here, but has since relocated to the Deakin University Art Gallery at the Melbourne Burwood campus. The Deakin University Art Gallery has a wide collection of work by Australian artists including the Sydney based artist Rox De Luca. The university's action of offering the campus, including the mansion, provoked public outrage over the potential privatization of what had been public space. In December 2006, the three-mansion was sold for $33 million to a joint venture between Hamton Property Group and Industry Superannuation Property Trust.

The university has seven research institutes:

Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization (ADI);

Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A²I²);

Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM);

Controversies

Reports of on-campus sexual assault and harassment

Between 2011 and 2016 the university reported there were 40 officially cases of sexual abuse and harassment on campus, resulting in 12 staff members being disciplined or sacked for sexual misconduct and no student expulsions or suspensions. The 2017 Australian Human Rights Commission report on sexual assault and harassment surveyed 649 Deakin students, and reported somewhat higher figures than this, finding that 2.8% of those surveyed claimed to have been assaulted on campus, and 21% had been sexually harassed.