The University and the Law School

Abstract

The opening of the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) law school in 1977 began a subtle change in the direction of the institution that would only reach fruition in the multi-disciplinary, multi-campus university of today. Queensland University of Technology (QUT) can trace its origins as far back as the Brisbane School of Arts, founded in 1849, and set up to provide night classes in the humanities and practical arts for working people. But the dominant strain in QUT's 'predecessor1 institutions was the applied science and engineering college which provided the model first for the Central Technology College (1908-64) and then for Queensland Institute of Technology (1965-89). The introduction of a law school was the beginning of a broadening of disciplinary boundaries at QIT, a broadening that contributed to the formation and development of QUT. QIT and the Sydney-based NSW Institute of Technology were the first non-university tertiary institutions in Australia to offer Bachelor of Laws courses. Symbolically, perhaps, the founding of the law school was the beginning of our march to university status.