Media releases

Federation University Australia has welcomed the Victorian Government’s support for the Ballarat University Town Project, which will enhance the university’s connection and presence in the heart of the city, promote jobs and economic growth.

The plan took a significant step forward today, with Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney announcing a $2.25 million Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF) grant towards strategic planning for the project.

The project aims to build Ballarat’s reputation as a ‘university town’ that will attract students to live and work in regional Victoria and will transform the university’s historic School of Mines Ballarat (SMB) campus on Lydiard Street into a new Skills and Innovation Precinct.

The precinct will also help attract new industry to Ballarat by providing access to a skilled regional workforce as well as cutting-edge research and innovation.

Federation University will provide $3.86 million in co-funding for the $6.11 million project, which will create 50 flow on jobs and includes:

• master planning for the Skills and Innovation Precinct and SMB Campus Transformation Plan
• community engagement to support the Ballarat University Town concept
• development of a Federation University Sustainability Plan (including a net zero target by 2030)

Also funded as part of this announcement are building works at Federation University’s Ararat Jobs and Technology Precinct that is currently being developed.

This will improve public access to the site and establish an internet link that will connect the Ararat precinct to virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology at the new Business Centre of Excellence on the Ballarat SMB Campus.

The Ballarat University Town Project was kickstarted earlier this year with a $9.5 million Victorian Government grant to build Federation University’s new Business Centre of Excellence, which will be at the heart of the new Skills and Innovation Precinct and is expected to open in late 2022.

Quotes attributable to Federation University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Duncan Bentley

“For more than 150 years, Federation University has been inextricably linked to the Ballarat community, beginning with the establishment of the School of Mines Ballarat during the Victorian gold-rush era.”

“The University Town Project builds on that relationship, helping to drive Ballarat forward through economic growth and jobs.”

“The Skills and Innovation Precinct will attract students to study and live in Ballarat and will attract new industry to the region by providing access to a highly skilled local workforce and research and innovation.”