Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT) 1966 to 1987
Finding a suitable location to build the new Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT) proved difficult. Various sites had been deemed unsuitable, especially in the city where space was limited. Salvation arrived in the form of a bushfire south of Perth. In 1957 a fire burnt out a large section of the Collier Pine Plantation in Bentley, 6km south of Perth. This fortuitous event, coupled with the unsuitability of other potential sites, led to Bentley’s selection in 1962.
Vin Davies, a Public Works Department architect, was chosen to design the initial buildings and work began in earnest. Davies’ signature style, using bricks and off form concrete, set the tone for future building designs and is still evident on campus today. The core infrastructure was built over the next four years and WAIT officially opened on 17 August 1966. The first students enrolled the following year.
In 1969 the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM), the Muresk Agricultural College, the School of Occupational Therapy (now the School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology) and the School of Physiotherapy (now the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science) were merged with WAIT.
Between 1966 and 1976 WAIT experienced an incredible expansion from 3,000 to 10,000 students. This carried the institute into the front rank of the new Colleges of Advanced Education receiving financial assistance from the Commonwealth Government. During this period WAIT continued to offer three year engineering degree courses which until the application of the four year rule in the 1960s were recognised as a qualification for graduate membership of the Institution of Engineers, Australia.
By the 1970s things were changing. Recession was starting to bite into economic prosperity. WAIT came under attack from both Commonwealth and State authorities, who were reducing public spending. As a result of this pressure, WAIT consolidated around large schools of:
- health sciences;
- business and administration; and
- the arts and architecture.
This resulted in WAIT becoming the most comprehensive College of Advanced Education in the nation, with substantial enrolments in those areas.
WAIT’s business school was the largest in Australia. Growth in degree courses and postgraduate work, as well as industry research and development, confirmed WAIT’s presence in the Western Australian tertiary sector. Controversially, its growth was curbed at this time to permit new institutions – Murdoch University and the Western Australian College of Advanced Education (WACAE) – to survive and expand in an environment of reduced Commonwealth spending on higher education.
By the 1980s it was clear that WAIT was becoming increasingly confined by the binary system. Its expansion into university dominated areas coupled with continuing funding issues meant that something had to give. The State Government of Western Australia recognised this, and after much heated political debate, passed legislation in 1986 that conferred university status on the institute.
In January 1987, twenty years from its inception, WAIT was reborn as Curtin University of Technology.
Extracted from Curtin University website.
