$2 million project to transform Dookie Agricultural College

Funding for Dookie campus
Dookie Agricultural College has received a $2 million funding boost.

Upgrades will be made to the University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus thanks to a $2 million funding boost announced today by the Minister for Training and Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney.

The funding will allow the University of Melbourne to revamp its Dookie campus, including upgrades to ageing dormitory facilities to accommodate increased student numbers, which are expected to grow significantly over the next ten years.

The project will include much-needed refurbishment and improvements to teaching labs and will ensure that students have access to high-quality teaching facilities, which will enhance laboratory science subjects offered at Dookie.

The University of Melbourne will also fund the animal handling facilities to support teaching and research activities.

Ms Tierney said the next generation of regional and rural workers in north-eastern Victoria will soon have access to upgraded learning facilities, so they can learn locally.

“We know that getting a great education shouldn’t have to mean moving from regional Victoria to the city - that’s why we’re upgrading student accommodation and learning facilities at agriculture colleges,” Ms Tierney said.

“This funding will help Dookie Agricultural College continue to evolve and grow, and to meet the needs of the Victoria we are building.”

University of Melbourne Dean of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences John Fazakerley said the Dookie Agricultural College is a focal point for key research, teaching and technology development that is helping to shape the future of agriculture in Australia.

“From its Dookie and Parkville campuses, the University of Melbourne engages with agriculture and food industries across the State and educates the leaders of the future,” Professor Fazakerley said.

“This very welcome investment from the Victorian government will improve facilities at Dookie and allow more students, in our Bachelor of Agriculture and associated courses, the opportunity to live, work and study in a farming community.”