The past
2009 marks the centenary of the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science. The School was the first to be established in Australia, and has a proud heritage of innovation in veterinary science.
During our 100 years we have educated world-class veterinary science graduates, advancing knowledge through pioneering research, world-class postgraduate training and professional continuing education. We have engaged with society, including the veterinary profession, producer groups, pet owners and the public, to advance animal, human, and environmental well-being both nationally and internationally.
Veterinary education first started in Melbourne in 1888 at the private Melbourne Veterinary College in Fitzroy after the passage of the Veterinary Surgeons Act in December 1887. This was the first Act passed in Australia to regulate the standards of veterinary education. The course established in 1888 was one of the first in the English-speaking world to be given over four years. The first GMVC certificates were awarded in 1891. In 1906, Belle Bruce Reid became the first female graduate.
The course was transferred to the University of Melbourne after an Act of the Parliament of Victoria (no. 2174, 2 March 1909), that enabled the University Veterinary School and Veterinary Research Institute to be established in Parkville. The first Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) degrees were awarded in 1909.
The School graduated veterinarians until 1928, after which the School continued to exist, but students undertook only the first year of Veterinary Science at the University of Melbourne before completing the degree at the University of Sydney. The Veterinary Research Institute continued at the Parkville site until 1991. In 1963, the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science re-opened in response to requests from Victoria’s animal industries to the State Government for more locally trained veterinarians.
This current School operates the Preclinical Centre in Parkville and the Clinical Centre at Werribee, which was established in 1966. The first class graduated in 1967 with a total of 38 students, of which 33 were male.
View our timeline to discover some of the definitive moments and great individuals from the Melbourne School of Veterinary Science’s century, as the School expanded to become one of the world’s top veterinary institutions.