Monash University Council

The first meeting of the Interim Council was held in June 1958. It governed the University until the first meeting of Monash University Council in August 1961. The Chairman of the Interim Council, Sir Robert Rutherford Blackwood was then elected Chancellor of the University. The Council is the governing authority of the University and is constituted under the Monash University Act 1958, and amendments under the Monash University (Chisholm and Gippsland) Act 1990 and the Monash University (Pharmacy College) Act 1992, It is widely representative of groups within the University and in the wider community, including staff; students; professional, commercial and industrial interests; and members of Parliament. The council supervises the affairs of the university on the advice of its Standing Committees, the Academic Board and senior officers of the University. The University's Chief Executive Officer, the Vice-Chancellor, is appointed by Council. Until 1990 there were 38 members of Council, and this was increased to 55 after merger with Chisholm Institute of Technology and Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, effective from July 1991. Following the passing of the University Acts (Further Amendment) Act in 1997, composition of membership was altered and the size of Council reduced from 43 to 21 members. The new Council met for the first time on 16 February 1998. The Monash University Act (2009) came into operation on 1st January 2011.The purposes of the Act are to "re-enact with amendments the law relating to Monash University by rationalising obsolete and disparate legislation and to provide for a new Act reflecting best practice and a consistent approach to governance and reporting for universities in Victoria."