[14]: 3  The Minister of Education at the time and the appointed planning council were "unanimous in their enthusiasm that the new institution should be innovative in its approach",[15] and the university adopted an academic structure based on schools of studies (rather than on faculties) and a collegiate format, where a large number of students lived on campus.

[citation needed] Many prominent Victorians were involved in La Trobe's establishment process, and there was a strong belief that it was important to increase research and learning in Victoria.

[16] The origins of La Trobe can be traced back to the post-World War II era when÷ there emerged a global recognition of the need to increase facilities for higher education.

The Murray Committee, in a far-reaching report submitted in September 1957, recommend a major expansion of university facilities in Australia and changes in administration and financing.

[17]: 21 As a direct consequence of the key recommendations of the Murray report, the federal government established the Australian Universities Commission (AUC) in 1959, appointing Sir Leslie Martin as its chair.

[17]: 21  Menzies appointed Martin to chair a special committee in 1961 to report to the AUC on the rapidly increasing demands for higher education in Australia.

[14]: 5 A subcommittee, headed by Phillip Law, quickly recognised that "somewhere on the eastern side of Melbourne stands out as the right location", however, Monash was already growing in the southeastern suburbs so an alternative area was sought.

[17]: 23 While it was an interesting interpretation of a "local name", La Trobe, proposed by Fitzpatrick,[19] was agreed unanimously upon by the planning committee after some alternatives, such as Deakin, were "thoughtfully put aside".

"[17]: 24 The Victorian Minister for Education, Sir John Bloomfield, upon presenting the enabling bill to the Victorian parliament, reflected on the influence of Charles La Trobe in the foundation of the University of Melbourne over 100 years before, concluding "my most satisfying reflection at this moment is that my father's father sought for gold in our hills, and he knew this city in the days of the man whom, at the behest of others, I am now trying to acknowledge.

La Trobe University was officially opened by the Victorian premier, Sir Henry Bolte, on 8 March 1967 at a ceremony that was attended by a number of dignitaries including former Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies.

During the merger process, a controversial issue erupted when the university's head office in Bundoora raised concerns about the academic standards at Bendigo CAE.

Higher education reforms by the Howard government allowed Australian universities to increase fees and take in a greater number of full-fee paying students.

[31][34] In an attempt to address these issues, the university is making cut backs and restructuring several courses under the direction of the Vice-Chancellor, John Dewar.

Bundoora is the largest university campus in the Southern Hemisphere, encompassing 235 hectares (580 acres), including the adjacent Nangak Tamboree Wildlife Sanctuary.

The original main campus buildings were designed by Melbourne architecture firm, Yuncken Freeman[49] in a utilitarian, Post-War International style.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, La Trobe University had developed plans to transform the Bundoora campus into a 'City of the Future', closely co-locating commercial, cultural and research facilities onto the site.

The university is also home to the Centre for Dialogue, an interdisciplinary research institution which delves into certain intercultural and inter-religious conflicts, both in the domestic setting and in international relations.

[54] The Centre for Dialogue has also received attention for its leadership programme for young Muslims, implemented predominantly in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

[58] As of 2018[update] the Bendigo campus is situated on 33 ha (82 acres) of land, consisting of four sites—Edwards Road, Osbourne Street, the art centre and the La Trobe Rural Health School.

[citation needed] Originally the revamped campus building was meant to open in early 2008, but funding delays pushed the project back.

[68] Farrell is a leading scholar of the Afghan and previously acted as strategic advisor to the UK government, the US-led command in Kabul and participated in track II peace talks with the Taliban.

A key objective of AgriBio is to facilitate science collaboration between the university and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (previously DEPI).

[81] In 2011 the university, in conjunction with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences built the Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory (TAAL),[82] based within the Department of Archaeology, Environment and Community Planning.

[84] Master architect of La Trobe Roy Simpson initiated the commissioning of paintings to establish the art collection, and large sculptures were included in the original design.

It is based at the old VAC location, but is also active on all of the university campuses, participating in various collaborative projects[85] The LAI acquires the winning work in the Australian Muslim Artists Art Prize each year,[87] since the university entered into an educational partnership with the Islamic Museum of Australia, which included sponsoring the prize as well as the possibility of providing training in Islamic cultures for teachers, adding a new component to journalism courses and "work-integrated learning opportunities".

[109] These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction[109] than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts.

Notably it was the subject of a Federal Court case after the Office of Film and Literature Classification ruled in 1995 that it "promotes, incites and instructs in matters of crime" because of an article on shoplifting (reprinted from elsewhere).

[119] The following colleges and halls are based at the Melbourne (Bundoora) campus:[120] Roz Ward, an academic at the university's Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), co-founded a Safe Schools program for Victoria.

The suspension was soon lifted, along with a statement: "La Trobe said it was not in the university's best interest to pursue the matter, but that it followed the proper procedures to suspend Ms Ward.

"[136] In 2017 La Trobe was reported as the worst university in Victoria for sexual harassment according to the Australian Human Rights Commission's national survey on campus abuse.