RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, science and technology in response to the Industrial Revolution in Australia.

[16] The main campus of RMIT is situated on the northern edge of the historic Hoddle Grid in the city centre of Melbourne.

In Asia, it has two branch campuses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and a training centre in Da Nang in Vietnam as well as teaching partnerships in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

[17] The antecedent of RMIT, the Working Men's College of Melbourne, was founded by the Scottish-born grazier and politician the Hon.

He was supported in the Victorian Parliament by Charles Pearson and in the Melbourne Trades Hall by William Emmett Murphy.

[18] Between the turn of the 20th century and the 1930s, it expanded over the neighbouring Old Melbourne Gaol and constructed buildings for new art, engineering and radio schools.

[18] The expanded college made a greater contribution to Australia's effort during World War II by training a sixth of the country's military personnel—including the majority of its Royal Australian Air Force communication officers.

[18] Following World War II, in 1954 it became the first Australian tertiary education provider to be awarded royal patronage (by Elizabeth II) for its service to the Commonwealth in the area of education and for its contribution to the war effort; and was officially renamed the "Royal Melbourne Technical College".

It became (and remains to this day) the only higher education institution in Australia with the right of the prefix "Royal" along with the use of the Australian monarchy's regalia.

[25] The campus area is situated between the two oldest sections of the city; the northern edge of the Hoddle Grid to its south and the Queen Victoria Market to its south-west.

From the Old Melbourne Gaol, they include its east wing cell block (1854) which is now operated as a museum by the National Trust of Australia, its former chapel and gatehouse (1860) which are now used as a multi-faith place of worship for the campus, and the site of its former hospital which is now used as a landscaped space known as Alumni Courtyard.

[citation needed] The Brunswick campus became a part of RMIT in 1999 as a dedicated site for its vocational design schools.

[citation needed] RMIT's flight training programs are conducted from its site at the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) historic Williams base.

[22] In 2001, it purchased and restored a 19th-century French Colonial building and grounds in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City.

[37] The present Ho Chi Minh City campus is located in the Phu My Hung area of the Saigon South development in District 7.

It was initially located in the Van Phuc Diplomatic Compound in the government precinct of the Ba Đình district, Hanoi.

[22] It consolidated its two buildings in a newly built tower overlooking Ngọc Khánh Lake in the Ba Đình district in 2010.

[39] RMIT teaches and/or accredits programs for the Hong Kong Art School and Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade in China, SIM Global Education in Singapore and Taylor's University in Malaysia.

[60][61] Members appointed directly to the council are required to possess a substantial expertise in academic or financial management, vocational education or training experience, and be drawn from beyond the university community.

[103] The Australian Government's QILT[c] conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment.

[104] These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction[104] than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts.

[citation needed] In addition to its libraries network, RMIT schools also maintain their own specialised collections.

[118] Documents held by the RMIT Research Repository are also indexed by Google Scholar, National Library of Australia and WorldCat.

[120] The gallery runs a highly regarded program of Australian and international exhibitions,[121] and focuses on contemporary art, design and visual culture.

It is located in the historic original section of Storey Hall on Swanston Street and is considered to be one of Melbourne's most vibrant art galleries.

[133] The Linsday Edwards Collection has a strong focus on Australian art and holds work by leading Australian artists (including RMIT alumni or former faculty) such as Howard Arkley, John Brack, Leonard French, Roger Kemp, Inge King, Max Meldrum, John Olsen, Lenton Parr and Fred Williams.

[139] It also offers workshop and seminars as well as funding for arts initiatives,[140] and runs a free cinema program at the City and Bundoora campuses.

[citation needed] Some of the traditional residential colleges of the nearby University of Melbourne also reserve places for RMIT students.

RMIT has chaplains that represent Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths of various branches as well as for Integral spirituality.

[161] The mayor grants RMIT's vice-chancellor a "writ of passage" to proceed with the graduation ceremony, which takes place at the Docklands Stadium.