The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the university. Courses and training offered at the VCA cover eight academic disciplines: dance, film and television, drama, Indigenous arts, music theatre, production, theatre, visual art, and writing, alongside the Centre for Ideas and the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development. The library on the Southbank campus is known as the Lenton Parr Music, Visual and Performing Arts Library.

History

The Victorian College of the Arts was established in 1972 by a government order under the Victorian Institute of Colleges Act 1955, initiated by the Premier of Victoria and Minister for the Arts,

Rupert Hamer Sir Rupert James Hamer, (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer, was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as the 39th Premier of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Early years Hamer ...

. Subsequently, in 1973 the VCA was affiliated as a college of advanced education with the Victorian Institute of Colleges. The National Gallery of Victoria Art School, founded in 1867 to teach fine art, was the VCA's foundation school. This was followed by the establishment of the School of Music in 1974, the School of Drama in 1976, the School of Dance in 1978 and Film and Television (1992). The Victorian College of The Arts

Also in 1978, the Victorian Education Department under the direction of the Deputy Premier and Minister of Education,

Lindsay Thompson Lindsay Hamilton Simpson Thompson AO, CMG (15 October 1923 – 16 July 2008) was an Australian Liberal Party politician who served the 40th Premier of Victoria from June 1981 to April 1982. He was previously the Deputy Premier between 1972 and ...

, established the Victorian College of the Arts Technical School, a government secondary school for dancers and musicians (see VCASS) in close association with the VCA and located on the same campus. In March 1981, th