Academy of Design Australia

LCI Melbourne was inaugurated as the Australian Academy of the Arts in 1998. It was later renamed to the Academy of Design Australia, and has adopted the institutional business name of LCI (an abbreviation of LaSalle College International) Melbourne in January 2018.

In 1999 the Academy was recognised by the Office of Training and Tertiary Education (OTTE) as a Registered Training Organisation (RTO), and the following year it was included on the Commonwealth Register of Cultural Organisations.[3]

Between 2001 and 2006, the Academy delivered undergraduate and postgraduate degrees through an affiliation with Charles Sturt University. After this it was registered as a Non-Self Accrediting Higher Education Institution, able to offer degrees in its own right. This coincided with the accreditation of the Bachelor of Design Arts, developed in association with the Australian Academy of the Arts, which is now offered exclusively by the Academy.

In 2015, the Academy of Design Australia became the 22nd campus in the La Salle College International (LCI) Education Network.

From January 2016 - December 2017, the university was located in a temporary residence, shared with Melbourne Polytechnic on Otter Street, Collingwood, after previously residing in Port Melbourne for seventeen years.

In January 2018, the Academy rebranded its business name as LCI Melbourne and retained its institutional name for TESQA registration and moved to a new, purpose built art and design education, permanent residence in Oxford Street, Collingwood in the heritage-listed Foy & Gibson warehouse.

Students attending LCI Melbourne are able to join a study period abroad at any one of LCI Education Network's 21 other campuses. LCI Melbourne also has international study agreements with a number of international design institutions, including Utrecht School of the Arts, Northumbria University, Politecnico di Milano and Design Academy Eindhoven.

Opened in January 2018, the LCI Melbourne campus is located in the heritage-listed Foy & Gibson warehouse precinct in Collingwood. The area is a well-known creative hub, surrounded by art galleries, fashion houses and design studios, which provide many local professional placement opportunities for students. The building was remodelled by Gray Puksand and features state-of-the-art facilities including a public art gallery, editing suites, and industry-standard studios. All original features and materials of the building have been retained and/or reused.

Alumni include Bundit Puangthong (shortlisted for the 2008 Sovereign Asian Art Prize[4]) and Michael Halford (a member of the Animal Logic visual effects team who worked on Oscar-winning film Happy Feet[5]).

In 2011 the Academy was invited to join Cumulus, the International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media. It is only the fourth Australian institution to receive such recognition, and the first non-Government funded institution.[6]

• LCI Melbourne website