Kangan Institute was established as the Broadmeadows College of TAFE on 28 February 1986, when it was formally opened by Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

[1][2] It subsequently acquired a series of other campuses in its first decade, including at Avondale Heights, Essendon and Moreland.

[5] The merger resulted in the closure of the former John Batman TAFE's campus in Gaffney Street, Coburg, but the amalgamated body expanded again in 1998 when it absorbed the Richmond Automotive Campus of Barton TAFE after a major state government review.

The two organisations retained their separate operational branding, but formed a shared administration based in Bendigo.

The then state opposition Labor Party and the Australian Education Union criticised the merger over process and funding concerns.