Through the efforts of the first Ormond Professor, G. W. L. Marshall-Hall, this was rectified in 1894 with the founding of the "University Conservatorium", whose leased premises were located in the Queen's Coffee Palace, a six-storey building on the corner of Rathdowne and Victoria streets, Carlton.
[2] By the end of the year 1900, the teaching staff had grown to 24, and the students' concerts at the Town Hall and Her Majesty's Theatre were a vital part of the social and artistic life of Melbourne.
The foundation stone for a permanent Conservatorium in Royal Parade, on the University campus, was laid by (later Dame) Nellie Melba on 26 November 1909, and the building, designed by Bates, Peebles & Smart, was opened in 1913.
In March 2019 the majority of Conservatorium operations moved to the new Ian Potter Southbank Centre, a state of the art facility for music.
This makes the Southbank Campus of the University of Melbourne the largest creative tertiary education provider situated inside an arts precinct in the country, and one of the few so located in the world.