Federation University Australia

SMB Campus on Lydiard Street South.

Tertiary education at Ballarat began in 1870, making it Australia's fourth oldest tertiary institution.[6]

On 6 September 2013, the Victorian Parliament passed legislation to establish Federation University Australia,[7] The name change officially began in 2014. The then Vice-Chancellor justified the name change as an attempt to broaden the reach of the university nationally and internationally, and in fairness to the campuses outside Ballarat.[8] The name was also the preferred name within the university, compared to 'State University of Victoria', 'Eureka University', 'Robert Menzies University' or 'Vida Goldstein University'.

The former Ballarat Gaol, which was a maximum security prison that operated from 1862 until 1965, was located on the site of the university's School of Mines (SMB) campus, at the southern end of Lydiard Street. The area is known for being a well preserved Victorian era street.[9] While the prison was mostly demolished in the 1960s, the old prison walls, gate and guard towers, as well as the residences of the governor and warden, still exist. The Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History (CRCAH) is located in the governor's residence of the Old Ballarat Gaol. The CRCAH director's office was once the bedroom of Bella Guerin, who became the first woman to graduate from an Australian university in 1883.[10] The campus also includes the old School of Mines buildings.

Students can undertake undergraduate degrees across a wide range of study areas, which are:

• Humanities and social sciences
• Engineering
• Business
• Science and mathematics
• Education and early childhood
• Nursing, midwifery and paramedicine
• Psychology
• Performing arts
• Visual arts
• Information technology
• Occupational health and safety
• Sport, outdoor and physical education
• TAFE

SMB Campus building, formerly Old Ballarat Gaol.

Researchers – academics and post-graduate students – undertake work within various centres, as well as within the disciplines. The research priority areas of the university are information forensics and security, transformative and preventative health, dynamic landscapes, history and heritage, and improving policy and practice in VET. The research centres are:

• Australian Retirement Research Institute (ARRI)
• Centre for Biopsychosocial and eHealth Research and Innovation (CBeRI)
• Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI)
• Centre for Gippsland Studies (CGS)
• Centre for Informatics and Applied Optimisation (CIAO)
• Centre for Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Artificial Intelligence Research (MCCAIR)
• Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History (CRCAH)
• Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Engineering Research Group (GHERG)
• Researching Adult and Vocational Education (RAVE)
• Water Research Network
• Visiting Friends and Relatives Research

There are also research facilities at Ballarat Technology Park, the Gippsland Enterprise Centre and Nanya Station in rural NSW.

Heritage buildings and old Ballarat Gaol at the School of Mines and Industry. Lydiard Street, Ballarat CBD. Now home to the Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History (CRCAH).[11]

In 2017, FedUni was ranked within the top 20% of Australian universities in humanities for teaching quality, learner engagement, learning resources, skills development, and student support.[16] Nationally, the university is ranked 31 in Australia (out of 40).[17] Across the university, for postgraduate research the university is rated above the national average by former students with 78.8% satisfaction. For undergraduate studies, the university is rated above national average by former students with 83.3% satisfaction.[18]

Historically, the former University of Ballarat achieved a maximum five-star rating for teaching quality in the Good Universities Guide consecutively from 2010 to 2014. Federation University has been ranked four-stars for graduate placement by the Good Universities Guide, but is not ranked in international university guides.[19] This placed the University in the top tier of Australian regional universities.

In addition to the following campuses, the university also had joint-degree programmes with international colleges, including PLK Vicwood KT Chong Sixth Form College in Hong Kong.

SMB campus is set among the heritage buildings of Lydiard Street Sth including the former School of Mines and Industry (left), former Supreme Court and former Ballarat Gaol (rear)

• Camp Street Campus – located in central Ballarat, this campus houses the Arts Academy. The campus consists of the Old General Post Office Building, the Old Courthouse, and several newer buildings which were completed in 2002.
• SMB Campus – located in central Ballarat and incorporates the original School of Mines Ballarat and the Old Ballarat Gaol. The campus offers training from Certificate level through to Advanced Diploma and Degree level study.

Online learning: Federation university offers many courses through online study. This consists of online reading materials, online virtual classes, online quizzes and weekly course activities.

• Horsham Campus – offers TAFE courses and a Higher Education course in Nursing.

Located in Mount Helen, 10 km south of Ballarat. The university's largest campus, it has two residences, Peter Lalor Hall and Bella Guerin Hall. Its programs include the School of Education and Arts; School of Health Sciences; School of Science, Information Technology and Engineering; and the Business School.

The Gippsland Campus is located in the township of Churchill in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges. The campus is home to over 2,500 students and approximately 400 staff

The campus was formerly Monash University, Gippsland campus, but became part of Federation University Australia on 1 January 2014.

Gippsland campus has a childcare centre just like other campuses. The childcare centre was formally known as Pooh Corner childcare centre, but now FedUni Children's Centre. This Centre consists of friendly staff that are willing to meet your child's need.

The Berwick Campus is located in Berwick and is the newest of Federation University's campuses. It was transitioning itself from the Monash University, Berwick campus in 2017 and completed its transition in early 2018. The exact location of the building is 100 Clyde Road Berwick VIC 3806. The university has four buildings naming 901, 902, 903, and 930 as well as additional buildings for on-campus living.

The university has a technology park with the mission to facilitate the development of technology-based companies or companies that benefit from the technological resources of the university.[21] The following organisations operate in the park.

More than 1350 people are employed by tenants at the technology park and approximately half of those holding Federation University Australia qualifications. Recently IBM decided to expand its workforce with the construction of a new $10 million building on the park.[22]

• Institute for Regional and Rural Research and Innovation
• Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Engineering Research Group
• Collaborative Research Centre in Australian History