Swinburne University of Technology

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Swinburne University of Technology was created by the Swinburne University of Technology Act 1992 (Act No. 44/1992). This Act officially amalgamated Prahran Collge of TAFE with Swinburne College of TAFE (VA 4668) and Swinburne Institute of Technology (VA 1192) on the 1st of July 1992 to form Swinburne University of Technology. In keeping with the division of the Swinburne Company Limited into two divisions, the Act acknowledged that Swinburne University of Technology would consist of two distinct operational divisions - the Higher Education Division and the TAFE Division. Mr Richard Pratt AO was installed as Swinburne's Foundation Chancellor on 15 March 1993.

In 1996 a new campus was opened at Lilydale and a new Division, known as Swinburne at Lilydale was added to Swinburne's structure. Swinburne at Lilydale offers Higher Education courses. The TAFE Division further expanded on 1 July 1998 following a merger with the Eastern Institute of TAFE, which operated campuses in Croydon, Lilydale, Wantirna and Healesville. This merger was the result of the Eastern Institute of Technical and Further Education (Merger) Order 1998, an order made under the Vocational Education and Training Act 1990 (Act No. 45/1990).

Swinburne University of Technology became actively involved in the development of industry-focussed cooperative research centres both in Australia and overseas. Once such cooperative venture was the Laem Chabang School of Engineering in Thailand (established in 1998), and another was the Swinburne Sarawak Institute of Technology in Kushing, East Malaysia (established in 2000). Swinburne was a pioneer of Industry Based Learning (IBL), a program which placed students directly in industry for vocational employment as an integral part of the course structure. Swinburne University of Technology utilised its various divisions to promote flexibility of study for students. This enabled students to move between the TAFE sector and the Higher Education sector, or the TAFE based VCE program into full TAFE courses, or from degree courses into TAFE courses.