Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

[7] In December 2010, The Age reported that, on the number of alumni who had received a top Order of Australia honour, Xavier College ranked equal tenth among Australian schools.

Construction continued during the school's early years, with the main oval added in 1883, and the West Wing and Great Hall in 1890.

[10] In 1900, Xavier replaced St Patrick's College in East Melbourne as the only Catholic institution among the six Associated Public Schools at that time.

[citation needed] From conception to completion, construction took around sixteen years and was led by Rectors Edmund Frost and Frank O’Keefe.

In addition to the three main campuses, the school has an outdoor education facility in Buxton, near Marysville, and a rowing shed on the banks of the Yarra River.

[18][19] In 2009, the Buxton outdoor education centre was temporarily closed due to extensive damage from the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, and was later sold in 2015.

Outdoor Education is compulsory in Years 5 to 10, and students spend up to one week at a range of venues, where they are given instruction in a variety of activities.

Each Friday evening Xavier students volunteer their time at a tutoring school in housing commission apartments in Richmond, where many residents are recent migrants or refugees.

For the duration of one week, 12 students from the partnered schools participate in a community building program in Bourke, an Outback town of New South Wales.

[citation needed] From Year 8 and above, students have the opportunity to participate in the Toorak division of the Debaters Association of Victoria competition.

[citation needed] Sport is compulsory for all students at Xavier,[26] and in addition to cricket and Australian rules football, a range of sporting activities are offered including athletics, badminton, basketball, cross country, hockey, lawn bowls, martial arts, rowing, rugby union, sailing soccer, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, water polo, and volleyball.

Two alumni who pursued careers in cricekt were Percy McDonnell (1860–1896) who captained the Australian Test team in six matches, including the tour of England in 1888, and Karl Schneider (1905–1928), who is described in Cricinfo as one of "the most naturally gifted batsmen to have graced the game".

Sixteen Xavier rowers have gone on to represent Australia, winning multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, including, among others, Peter Antonie, Michael McKay, Nick Green & Simon Keenan.

Xavier has won the following APS premierships:[32] Performing Arts have been part of the school's activities since 1929, with Musical Theatre/Operetta and Dramatic Plays having a shared focus in the college's co-curricular program.

The Yearly Senior Calendar includes: The Maytime Fair has been held annually in May since 1952 and is hosted by Xavier College.

It raises funds for the work of the Jesuit Mission, with support from friends and benefactors connected with schools, parishes, and other communities in Victoria and beyond.

The Maytime Fair consistently contributes over $100,000 each year for work in the developing world, including India, Cambodia, East Timor and Myanmar.

[36] In politics, academia and the law, Xavier's alumni include:[citation needed] In other areas, notable Old Xaverians include:[citation needed] In March 2013, a submission was made to Victoria's parliamentary inquiry into child sexual abuse about the alleged abuse of children in its care in the 1960s and 1970s.