In the beginning
Our founding director, Colin Badger (1906–1993), was driven by his mission to educate.
After many years of learning, he found his calling as an adult educator when he became a lecturer at the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) of South Australia. He found that adult learning gave people a ‘second chance’, and a means of self-improvement.
After travelling the world and helping hundreds of adults connect with education through his work and research, he became convinced of the need for an independent adult education board, responsible to government and not to a university.
In 1946, following the election of the reformist Cain Labor government, he seized the opportunity to reinvent and transform Victorian adult education by establishing the Council of
Adult Education (CAE). Appointed as the council’s director, The Act established the CAE as a statutory authority responsible for coordinating and delivering Victorian adult education. Its innovatory structure was claimed as a ‘world first’.
The Council was granted £25,000 and accommodation at 114 Flinders Street and 527 Collins Street, to help them begin pursuing their mission.
The later years
Over the next 30+ years, the CAE expanded education across the state, offering a wide variety of services for both metropolitan and rural students. Accessibility played a significant role in the diverse learning opportunities delivered, covering everything from fee-for-service recreational and skills-based programs to travelling theatre performances and evening classes at Pentridge Prison.
Changes to post-secondary education
Until this point, the central administration and co-ordination of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) programs had been the responsibility of the Technical Schools Services Division of the Education Department.
This began to change, beginning with the government’s Post-Secondary Education Act 1978 paving the way for formal training beyond secondary school. In 1987, the government again made major changes as part of its progressive restructuring of post-secondary education in Victoria, as well as adult literacy, basic education, and adult migrant education.
The Adult Community and Further Education Act of 1991 clarified the meaning of ‘Further Education’ in the context of Victoria’s education sector, and also led to the Adult Community and Further Education Board.
During this time, the name was also changed from the Council of Adult Education to the Centre for Adult Education, though the acronym remained the same.
Technical and Further Education reunited
Changes to the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 led to the CAE becoming part of Box Hill Institute. We now offering a wide range of fee-for-service programs held at our city locations, as well as partnering with organisations across Melbourne to deliver customised training that nurtures and develops learners to become their best selves.
