Tertiary Colleges

A decision to institute a binary tertiary education system saw the establishment in 1972 of the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education at Mount Nelson, Hobart, in addition to the University of Tasmania. Practical subjects like pharmacy and social work were moved there from the Technical College, and it incorporated the already-existing Teachers' College (1906), School of Art (1963) and Conservatorium of Music (1964). Protest in Launceston at its lack of tertiary education resulted in the establishment of a branch of the TCAE, which took over the Launceston Teachers' College and some Technical College courses.

Problems in Hobart with competition between the TCAE and the University for a small pool of students and overlapping courses, especially in teacher training, meant that, despite controversy and protests, in 1981 the University absorbed some Hobart courses (such as Education, Art, Music and Librarianship) and others moved north, to the renamed Tasmanian State Institute of Technology. At the end of the decade, again despite protest, the 'Dawkins Revolution' and the unified national system meant that the TSIT became part of the University of Tasmania. (See also Australian Maritime College and Technical Education.)

Further reading: R Davis, Open to talent, Hobart, 1990.

Alison Alexander