The Monash University Prato Centre (often known as Monash Prato) is a teaching and research centre in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. It is located in an 18th-century palace, the ''Palazzo Vaj'' (or ''Vai''), in the historical centre of

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

. It was opened on 17 September 2001, as part of

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

's internationalisation policy. It was established with the assistance of the local government of Prato, the region of

and prominent Italian-Australians Rino and Diana Grollo. The Centre aims to develop

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's links with

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, through research collaboration, seminars and conferences, and as a centre of study for Australian students. It is now the largest Australian institution of its kind in Europe. The Centre's patron is Sir James Gobbo, AC, an Australian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

who was the first

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

of Italian descent.

Location

Prato is a city and ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' in Tuscany. It is 24 km from

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, accessible by road or a 20-minute train ride. It is a centre of Italy's

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

industry and of the slow food movement. It is home to around 180,000 people, making it the second largest city in Tuscany and the third largest in

Central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...

, after Florence and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In addition to Monash, other educational institutions in Prato include Il Polo Universitario "Città di Prato" (a branch of the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

). Situated at Via Pugliesi 26, the Monash Prato Centre occupies the ''Palazzo Vaj'', an 18th-century palace in the town's historical centre. Certain parts of the building are believed to be even older, as 15th century

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

have been discovered on one of the Palazzo's outer walls. The name ''Vaj'' (pronounced ''vai'' in Italian) comes from the family which originally owned the building in the 18th century. From 1875 to 1999, the palazzo was a prestigious club for local businessmen, largely used for gaming. The modern interior was largely created in the 1950s by the famous Italian architect

Italo Gamberini Italo Gamberini (21 September 1907 – 14 November 1990) was an Italian architect. Life and career Gamberini graduated from the then School of Architecture in Florence in 1932, where he began his teaching career as a voluntary assistant to Raffa ...

and is heritage-listed by the Italian Government.

Activities

The Prato Centre hosts students from Monash who complete part of their degree at the Centre. The main academic areas offered by the Centre are law, art and design, music, history, international relations and Italian. This entails hundreds of Monash students being hosted by the Centre throughout the year. Classes are conducted by academics from Monash University, as well scholars from the

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and various experts working within the law, social sciences and the arts. The Centre is popular among Monash students, because it enables them to study overseas without having to transfer to a foreign university. The Centre also holds major international conferences, organised by both Monash and other academic institutions. Additionally, it regularly hosts a range of guest speakers for students, staff and the local community. The Centre also has an Artist-in-Residence program. Since the establishment of the Prato Centre, more than 12,000 students and researchers have studied and worked there.

Centre Directors

* Bill Kent (2000–2004) * Annamaria Pagliaro (2005–2008) * Loretta Baldassar (2009–2011) * Cecilia Hewlett (2012–)

Notable faculty

Each year, staff from across the world visit the Centre to teach the various courses on offer. Regular teachers at the Centre include: * Stephen Charles - former Justice of the

Supreme Court of Victoria The Supreme Court of Victoria is the highest court in the Australian state of Victoria. Founded in 1852, it is a superior court of common law and equity, with unlimited and inherent jurisdiction within the state. The Supreme Court compri ...

* Annalisa Ciampi - former

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association The United Nations special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association works independently to inform and advise the United Nations Human Rights Council. The special rapporteur examines, monitors, advises and publi ...

(2017) * Nancy Gertner - Judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (in case citations, D. Mass.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose Jurisdiction (area), territorial jurisdiction is the Commonwealth (U.S. state), C ...

* George Hampel - former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Professor of Trial Practice and Advocacy

References

External links

Monash University Prato Centre Website

Information about Prato