AFTRS has been the training ground for many of Australia's most well-known directors and other filmmakers, including Gillian Armstrong, Philip Noyce, Rolf de Heer, Rachel Perkins, Ivan Sen, Warwick Thornton, and Kriv Stenders, as well as many cinematographers, film editors, composers, and screenwriters.

In addition, there are many radio and television presenters among its alumni, including David Speers Writer and broadcaster Phillip Adams and polymath and Labor politician Barry Jones campaigned for the establishment of a government-supported film school in Sydney,[1] as members of the Australian Interim Council for a National Film and Television Training School.

It was Australia's first national body of its kind, and began with 34 staff members and a consultative panel of nearly 100 industry professionals and educators.

[6] The first intake of 12 students on a pilot scheme included future directors and producers Gillian Armstrong,[4][7] Phillip Noyce, Chris Noonan, James Ricketson, Ron Saunders, and Graham Shirley.

[10] In August 1975, the school moved to new purpose-built premises in Lyonpark Road, North Ryde, Sydney.

In 1984 it was reaccredited at Bachelor of Arts (university degree level), when it offered specialisations in cinematography, direction, editing, producing, production design, scriptwriting, and sound.

In 1986, work began on a new building next to Macquarie University in North Ryde, and AFTS was renamed the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).

[8] In 2023, on the 50th anniversary of AFTRS, celebrations were held on campus just after O-week, attended by members of the 1973 cohort, including Gillian Armstrong and Philip Noyce.

In 2008 the school relocated to a purpose-built facility adjacent to Fox Studios, located inside the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, Sydney.

As of 2024[update] offerings include:[15] As a statutory body,[16] AFTRS is governed by the Australian Film Television and Radio School Act 1973 with its Council responsible to the Minister for the Arts, representing the Federal Parliament.

[21] Amanda Duthie, Adelaide Film Festival artistic Director and virtual reality champion, along with Google Creative Technologist Mathew Tizard and AFTRS Head of Documentary Rachel Landers, sat on the jury for the inaugural AFTRS International VR Award in 2017.

Nothing Happens, by Michelle and Uri Kranot, won the award, while The Other Dakar by Selly Raby, based on Senegalese mythology, received a Special Mention.