How to Apply to RMIT University

17 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 2 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • RMIT is one of Australia's largest public universities by enrolment, with around 95,000 students and 5,500-6,000 staff across Melbourne City, Brunswick, Bundoora and RMIT Vietnam (Saigon South and Hanoi); founded in 1887 and identified as a technology-, design- and enterprise-focused institution.
  • All recruiting flows through PageUp at rmit.edu.au/jobs, and applications are scored against documented Key Selection Criteria; address each criterion explicitly with STAR-format examples.
  • Academic compensation is set by the RMIT Enterprise Agreement against Levels A through E (Associate Lecturer to Professor); professional staff are remunerated at HEW Levels 1 through 10 with employer superannuation typically paid at 17 per cent for ongoing staff.
  • RMIT is a member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), not the Group of Eight, and signal alignment with applied, design-led, industry-engaged research carries weight in interviews.
  • RMIT is internationally elite in art and design, consistently appearing in the QS top dozen worldwide by subject, and design heritage is a defining feature of the institution; portfolios matter for design, architecture, fashion and creative practice roles.
  • RMIT is a dual-sector institution offering both higher education and TAFE; vocational education teaching roles are governed differently and require Certificate IV in Training and Assessment plus current industry currency.
  • RMIT Vietnam is a major presence with two campuses (Saigon South and Hanoi); expatriate academic and professional postings are real opportunities and are advertised through the same PageUp portal with Vietnam-located filters.
  • Sessional and casual academic work remains a significant entry route, but is also a structural feature of the sector under active scrutiny by the NTEU and the Accord process; RMIT was the site of substantial industrial action during the 2024 bargaining cycle.
  • International applicants are welcome and routinely sponsored for academic and senior professional roles, though the 2024 international student cap has tightened broader institutional finances, with RMIT particularly exposed given its large international and dual-sector student base.

About RMIT University

RMIT University, formally the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, is one of Australia's largest and most distinctive public research universities. Founded in 1887 as the Working Men's College of Melbourne, RMIT has evolved over more than 135 years into a multi-campus, dual-sector institution offering both higher education and vocational education and training (TAFE), with around 95,000 students enrolled across its programs. That headcount makes RMIT the largest Australian university by total enrolment, ahead of Monash, Melbourne and Sydney. The university employs in the order of 5,500 to 6,000 academic and professional staff, plus a substantial sessional and casual workforce, making it one of the major non-government employers in inner Melbourne. RMIT operates across three Melbourne campuses and two campuses in Vietnam. The Melbourne City campus, occupying a tightly woven precinct around Swanston Street, La Trobe Street and Bowen Street in the northern Melbourne CBD, is the historic and operational heart of the university. The Brunswick campus, north of the city, houses Fashion and Textiles within the School of Fashion and Textiles and is a key site for design, art and craft programs. The Bundoora campus, in Melbourne's outer north, hosts Health and Biomedical Sciences and parts of Engineering. RMIT Vietnam operates two campuses, in Saigon South (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi, and is the largest foreign-owned university in Vietnam by enrolment, employing several hundred academic and professional staff and a substantial expatriate cohort. Smaller research and teaching footprints exist in Spain (RMIT Europe in Barcelona) and through partnerships in mainland China. RMIT is a member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), the alliance of technology-focused, industry-engaged Australian universities that also includes UTS, Curtin, Deakin and the University of Newcastle. It is not a member of the Group of Eight (Go8) and does not present itself as a sandstone institution. RMIT's brand identity is anchored in three intertwined strands: technology, design and enterprise. The university is internationally recognised for art and design, with the QS World University Rankings by Subject consistently placing RMIT in the global top dozen for Art and Design over the past decade, ahead of every other Australian institution. Architecture and built environment, communication and media, fashion, and computer science also rank strongly. The Melbourne School of Design, the School of Architecture and Urban Design, and the College of Design and Social Context together carry the design heritage that makes RMIT distinctive in the Australian university landscape. The operating environment in 2024 and 2025 has been demanding. The Albanese government's National Planning Level on international student commencements, introduced from 2024, has materially constrained revenue across the Australian higher education sector, and RMIT, with one of the largest international student populations in Australia and a heavily exposed dual-sector model that includes pathway and TAFE international cohorts, has been particularly affected. The university announced multi-year cost containment and structural change programs through 2024 and into 2025, with consequent staff impacts that drew sustained attention from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). RMIT was the site of significant industrial action during the 2024 Enterprise Agreement bargaining cycle, including stop-work meetings and rolling strike action across academic and professional staff. Vice-Chancellor Alec Cameron commenced in the role in 2025, succeeding Alec Cameron's predecessor, and is leading the institution through Accord-era reform, the international student environment, and a long-running campus master plan. Despite the macro pressure, RMIT continues to recruit broadly across academic, research, professional, technical, clinical, vocational education and operational functions in Melbourne and Vietnam.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Search openings on rmit

    Search openings on rmit.edu.au/jobs, the university's PageUp-powered careers portal, filtering by college, school, role type (academic, professional, sessional, vocational education teaching, research) and location (Melbourne City, Brunswick, Bundoora, RMIT Vietnam).

  2. 2
    Create a PageUp candidate profile with a single email address; you will reuse th

    Create a PageUp candidate profile with a single email address; you will reuse this account for any future RMIT application, and the profile carries across submissions to RMIT Australia and, in some cases, RMIT Vietnam.

  3. 3
    Tailor a cover letter or supporting statement that explicitly addresses each Key

    Tailor a cover letter or supporting statement that explicitly addresses each Key Selection Criterion or Capability listed in the position description, since Australian university recruiting panels score against these line by line.

  4. 4
    Attach a CV plus role-specific evidence: academic roles require a research state

    Attach a CV plus role-specific evidence: academic roles require a research statement, teaching philosophy and publication list; design and creative practice roles often require a portfolio or curated body of work; clinical and health roles require AHPRA registration evidence where relevant; TAFE and vocational education teaching roles require Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122 or equivalent) and current industry currency evidence.

  5. 5
    Submit before the closing date in Australian Eastern Time; PageUp does not accep

    Submit before the closing date in Australian Eastern Time; PageUp does not accept late applications, and academic posts often close 4-8 weeks after advertising to allow international applicants to apply.

  6. 6
    Initial screening is conducted by the People function against essential criteria

    Initial screening is conducted by the People function against essential criteria, with a shortlist forwarded to the chair of the selection committee or hiring manager within 2-3 weeks of close.

  7. 7
    Shortlisted academic candidates deliver a research seminar and a teaching demons

    Shortlisted academic candidates deliver a research seminar and a teaching demonstration, then meet college and school leadership, prospective colleagues, and in many cases higher degree research students across a half- or full-day campus visit; for design, architecture and creative practice roles a portfolio review and studio walk-through often substitute for or complement the seminar.

  8. 8
    Professional staff candidates typically progress through a competency-based inte

    Professional staff candidates typically progress through a competency-based interview with a panel of three to five (hiring manager, People partner and a peer or stakeholder), sometimes preceded by a phone screen and a short written or scenario task.

  9. 9
    Reference checks (minimum two, usually three including a current supervisor) and

    Reference checks (minimum two, usually three including a current supervisor) and pre-employment background verification, including a National Police Check and Working with Children Check where applicable, follow a verbal offer; written contracts are issued through PageUp.

  10. 10
    Onboarding includes an Enterprise Agreement induction, mandatory modules on work

    Onboarding includes an Enterprise Agreement induction, mandatory modules on workplace health and safety, the Code of Conduct, Indigenous cultural awareness drawing on Ngarara Willim and the Bundyi Girri reconciliation framework, and college- or school-specific orientation; for RMIT Vietnam roles, additional pre-departure briefings and visa processing follow.

Resume Tips for RMIT University

recommended

Mirror the language of the Position Description and Key Selection Criteria; Page

Mirror the language of the Position Description and Key Selection Criteria; PageUp keyword matching and human panel scoring both reward exact phrasing from the advertised capabilities.

recommended

Use Australian English spelling (organisation, programme for academic programmes

Use Australian English spelling (organisation, programme for academic programmes, behaviour, recognise) and Australian date format (DD/MM/YYYY) throughout; this is a small but consistently observed signal.

recommended

For academic roles, structure a separate Research Statement and Teaching Stateme

For academic roles, structure a separate Research Statement and Teaching Statement; do not bury research outputs inside a single CV section, and use the standard categories (refereed journal articles, books, book chapters, conference papers, creative works and exhibitions where relevant).

recommended

For art, design, architecture and creative practice roles, treat your portfolio

For art, design, architecture and creative practice roles, treat your portfolio or body of work as a primary document, not a supplement; describe the role you played in collaborative works, exhibition and publication venues, and any peer-reviewed Non-Traditional Research Outputs (NTROs).

recommended

Quote ARC, NHMRC, MRFF or international grant outcomes by scheme, year, role (CI

Quote ARC, NHMRC, MRFF or international grant outcomes by scheme, year, role (CI/AI/PI), and dollar amount; Australian academic panels expect this level of grant-funding specificity.

recommended

Cite teaching evaluation scores (the RMIT Course Experience Survey or equivalent

Cite teaching evaluation scores (the RMIT Course Experience Survey or equivalent), course coordination experience, HDR (Higher Degree Research) supervision completions, and any contribution to curriculum design or accreditation, including Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) and Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) cycles for dual-sector colleagues.

recommended

For professional staff, calibrate seniority with the HEW (Higher Education Worke

For professional staff, calibrate seniority with the HEW (Higher Education Worker) level you are targeting; quantify scope of role using budget managed, headcount supervised, projects led and stakeholders served.

recommended

For TAFE and vocational education teaching roles, lead with current industry cur

For TAFE and vocational education teaching roles, lead with current industry currency (recent practice in the relevant trade or profession), Certificate IV TAE qualifications, training package experience, and any RTO compliance background; this lane is governed differently from higher education.

recommended

Reference any prior experience at Australian universities, particularly ATN (Aus

Reference any prior experience at Australian universities, particularly ATN (Australian Technology Network), Go8 or IRU institutions; familiarity with Australian sector frameworks is highly valued at RMIT.

recommended

Highlight commitment to RMIT's strategic priorities visible on rmit

Highlight commitment to RMIT's strategic priorities visible on rmit.edu.au: design and creative practice excellence, technology and enterprise impact, sustainability and climate, Indigenous engagement through Bundyi Girri, internationalisation through RMIT Vietnam and Europe, and equity, diversity and inclusion.

recommended

Note any relevant union, professional association, or sector body membership (NT

Note any relevant union, professional association, or sector body membership (NTEU, CAUL for librarians, ATEM for tertiary education managers, AHPRA for clinicians, Engineers Australia, AIIA, Design Institute of Australia, AGDA, AILA, Australian Institute of Architects) where appropriate.

recommended

Keep total length to two pages for professional roles, four to six pages for aca

Keep total length to two pages for professional roles, four to six pages for academics, and add a separate portfolio document (PDF, with a public URL alternative) for design and creative practice roles; avoid graphics, tables and columns inside the main CV that PageUp's parser sometimes mishandles.

ATS System: PageUp People

RMIT recruits through PageUp People, the dominant ATS across the Australian higher education sector and the standard platform for almost every ATN and Go8 institution. PageUp at rmit.edu.au/jobs handles job advertising, candidate profiles, application submission, panel scoring against Key Selection Criteria, offer management and onboarding workflow. It is reasonably forgiving of standard PDF and Word resumes but parses cleanest when documents use a single column, conventional headings and embedded text rather than scanned images. RMIT Vietnam roles are typically advertised through the same PageUp portal with a Vietnam location filter, though some local Vietnamese hires also flow through RMIT Vietnam's local careers site.

  • Submit a Word .docx or text-based PDF; avoid scanned PDFs, image-only documents, and resumes built on heavy graphic templates, even if you are applying to a design school role.
  • Use one PageUp account per candidate across all applications; duplicate accounts cause profile and document confusion for recruiters.
  • Complete every form field, including Equal Employment Opportunity questions where shown; these are voluntary but support the university's reporting obligations under the Workplace Gender Equality Agency framework.
  • Address each Key Selection Criterion as a separate paragraph or numbered point in the cover letter or supplementary statement, with a STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) example.
  • Upload supporting documents in clearly named files (LastName_FirstName_CV.pdf, LastName_FirstName_CoverLetter.pdf, LastName_FirstName_ResearchStatement.pdf, LastName_FirstName_Portfolio.pdf) so panels can locate them quickly.
  • Check your PageUp inbox and the email address linked to your profile regularly; interview invitations and offer correspondence both flow through the platform, and Vietnam-based applications include additional onboarding steps.

Interview Culture

RMIT's interview culture reflects the broader norms of Australian public university hiring overlaid with the institution's own technology-and-design identity and its multi-campus, dual-sector character. For academic roles, expect a half- or full-day campus visit comprising a 45- to 60-minute research seminar open to college and school faculty and students, a teaching demonstration or sample lecture, separate meetings with the head of school, dean, peer academics and HDR students, and a closing panel interview structured around the Key Selection Criteria. For design, architecture and creative practice roles, this often takes the form of a portfolio review, studio walk-through and discussion of practice trajectory rather than a conventional research seminar, and may include a meeting with industry-practitioner colleagues who teach into the program. Panels typically include the hiring head, two academic peers, an external academic and a People representative, with formal scoring against capabilities. Engineering, IT, design and built environment searches frequently include an industry partner on the panel, reflecting RMIT's applied and translational research model. For professional staff, interviews are competency-based and conducted by a panel of three to five drawn from the hiring manager's team, a partner unit and People. Questions are typically behavioural ("Tell us about a time when...") and you should prepare STAR-format examples mapped to each Key Selection Criterion in the position description. For health and clinical roles, expect additional clinical scenario discussion and AHPRA verification. For TAFE and vocational education teaching roles, expect questions about industry currency, training package delivery, learner cohort management and ASQA compliance. For RMIT Vietnam roles, interviews are often staged across a Microsoft Teams or Zoom panel followed by an on-site visit to Saigon South or Hanoi, with discussion of cross-cultural teaching, Vietnamese student cohorts, and the practical realities of an expatriate posting (housing, schooling, healthcare and the contract structure). The tone is professional and collegial, less hierarchical than some Asian or European academic cultures but more formal than typical private-sector interviews. Candidates are expected to ask thoughtful questions about research and creative practice alignment, teaching and studio load, the Enterprise Agreement, hybrid working arrangements, the Melbourne City campus master plan, and equity, inclusion and Indigenous engagement priorities. The Melbourne City campus sits in the northern Melbourne CBD around Swanston and La Trobe streets, two minutes' walk from Melbourne Central Station and well-served by trams, trains and the Metro Tunnel that opened in 2025, making on-site interviews easy to combine with a campus tour. Outcomes typically arrive within two to four weeks of the final interview, with negotiated start dates that respect academic and vocational calendar transitions for teaching-active roles.

What RMIT University Looks For

  • Demonstrated alignment with RMIT's strategic priorities, particularly design and creative practice excellence, technology and enterprise impact, Indigenous engagement through the Bundyi Girri reconciliation framework, sustainability and climate action, and the internationalisation agenda anchored on RMIT Vietnam and RMIT Europe.
  • For academics: a competitive publication record in respected venues (or, for design and creative disciplines, a credible body of peer-reviewed Non-Traditional Research Outputs and recognised exhibitions, awards and built works), evidence of grant capture or strong potential, and a research or practice trajectory aligned with one of RMIT's priority areas (design, architecture and built environment, communication and media, fashion, computing, engineering, sustainability, digital twin and advanced manufacturing).
  • Teaching and studio effectiveness with documented evidence: Course Experience Survey scores, course coordination, curriculum innovation, work-integrated learning design, and supervision of Higher Degree Research candidates including HDR by Project for design disciplines.
  • For professional staff: specific competency match against the HEW-level descriptors, experience operating within complex stakeholder environments and a track record of delivery in higher education, vocational education or comparable settings.
  • For TAFE and vocational education teaching staff: current industry currency in the relevant trade or profession, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, demonstrated training package delivery, and a record of student outcomes in vocational cohorts.
  • Familiarity with the Australian higher education and vocational education regulatory environment: TEQSA and ASQA standards, the Australian Universities Accord, ESOS for international student handling, and ARC/NHMRC processes for researchers.
  • Cultural competence and demonstrated commitment to working with Indigenous Australians, international students, Vietnamese student cohorts and a diverse staff community; RMIT embeds Indigenous content and the Bundyi Girri framework across its operations.
  • Industry and creative-sector engagement instinct: RMIT's identity is intertwined with applied research, design practice and the Melbourne CBD industry adjacency, so collaboration with industry partners and creative practitioners is genuinely valued, particularly in design, architecture, fashion, communication, engineering, IT and business.
  • Right to work in Australia, or eligibility for sponsorship through skilled migration channels (Subclass 482, 186 or Distinguished Talent visas) for academic and senior professional roles; for RMIT Vietnam roles, eligibility for the Vietnamese work permit and temporary residence card scheme.
  • For clinical and health roles: current AHPRA registration in the relevant profession, plus credentialing acceptable to RMIT partner health services around Bundoora and the Melbourne north corridor.
  • Professional integrity and adherence to the RMIT Code of Conduct, the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, and the Higher Education Standards Framework.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RMIT part of the Group of Eight?
No. The Group of Eight comprises the University of Sydney, UNSW Sydney, ANU, the University of Melbourne, Monash University, the University of Queensland, the University of Western Australia and the University of Adelaide. RMIT is highly regarded and consistently ranks in the global top 200 on QS, with internationally elite placement in Art and Design (typically in the global top dozen) and strong rankings in Architecture and Built Environment, Communication and Media, and Computer Science. RMIT is a member of the Australian Technology Network (ATN), an alliance focused on technology-oriented, industry-engaged universities that also includes UTS, Curtin, Deakin and the University of Newcastle.
What does academic compensation look like at RMIT?
Academic salaries are set by the RMIT Enterprise Agreement against five levels in line with the broader Australian university sector. As of the most recent agreement, Level A (Associate Lecturer) sits roughly in the A$85,000-110,000 range, Level B (Lecturer) A$115,000-135,000, Level C (Senior Lecturer) A$140,000-165,000, Level D (Associate Professor) A$170,000-200,000, and Level E (Professor) A$210,000-310,000-plus, with named chairs and clinical academics at the higher end. All figures attract employer superannuation, typically at 17 per cent for ongoing academic staff, paid into UniSuper. RMIT Vietnam compensation operates on a separate scale denominated in US dollars and Vietnamese dong, with expatriate packages typically including housing allowance, school fees and relocation support.
How are professional (non-academic) staff paid?
Professional staff are paid against HEW (Higher Education Worker) Levels 1 to 10. Indicative ranges: HEW 4 around A$70,000, HEW 7 around A$95,000, HEW 9 around A$130,000-150,000, HEW 10 senior management A$150,000-220,000-plus, with executive-level appointments above HEW 10 negotiated individually. Each HEW level has incremental steps. Superannuation, leave loading, salary packaging through the not-for-profit education sector exemption, and access to UniSuper are standard.
Does RMIT sponsor visas for international hires?
Yes, routinely for academic and senior professional roles where local Australian talent is unavailable. The most common pathways are the Skills in Demand visa (Subclass 482, formerly TSS), the Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186), and for distinguished academics the Global Talent visa (Subclass 858). RMIT has a dedicated mobility function that handles the Standard Business Sponsor process; expect 6-12 weeks for visa grant once nomination lodges. RMIT Vietnam handles its own work permit and temporary residence card processes for expatriate hires posted to Saigon South or Hanoi, with typical processing windows of 8-12 weeks.
What is it like to work at the Melbourne City campus?
The Melbourne City campus occupies a tightly woven precinct around Swanston Street, La Trobe Street and Bowen Street in the northern Melbourne CBD. It is two minutes' walk from Melbourne Central Station, on the doorstep of the State Library of Victoria, and well-served by trams, trains and the Metro Tunnel that opened in 2025. The precinct includes signature buildings such as Building 8 (the iconic 1990s post-modern facade by Edmond and Corrigan), the Design Hub (Sean Godsell's perforated glass-disc tower), the Swanston Academic Building (Lyons Architects), and the New Academic Street redevelopment that opened laneways and student spaces through the historic city block. Lunch options, gym facilities, after-work culture, and proximity to industry partners (banks, consultancies, design studios, media organisations, technology firms, government departments) are excellent by Australian university standards. The trade-off is a dense, urban, vertical campus rather than a suburban green-field site.
What about the Brunswick and Bundoora campuses?
The Brunswick campus, in the inner-northern suburb of Brunswick, is the historic and operational home of Fashion and Textiles, with workshops, studios, looms, knitting machines and digital fabrication facilities that are nationally significant. It is a more intimate campus with a distinctive maker culture, served by Jewell and Brunswick stations on the Upfield line and by trams along Sydney Road. The Bundoora campus, in Melbourne's outer north on Plenty Road, hosts Health and Biomedical Sciences (including chiropractic, osteopathy, exercise science, nursing and laboratory medicine) and parts of Engineering, with significant clinical and laboratory infrastructure. Bundoora is more suburban and car- or bus-dependent, with the 86 tram terminus nearby and a dedicated shuttle bus to the City campus. Work patterns at both campuses involve more concentrated time on site (because of studio, lab and clinical equipment) than the more hybrid-friendly central professional roles.
Tell me more about RMIT Vietnam as an employment option.
RMIT Vietnam, established in 2000 with two campuses in Saigon South (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi, is the largest foreign-owned university in Vietnam by enrolment, with around 10,000 students and several hundred academic and professional staff. It is wholly owned by RMIT University and operates on the same brand and curriculum frameworks while being staffed by a mix of Vietnamese local hires and expatriates, with senior leadership often recruited internationally. Expatriate packages typically include base salary in US dollars, housing allowance, dependent school fees, annual flight allowance, health insurance and relocation support, with contracts usually 2-3 years and renewable. Common functions hired internationally include senior academics across business, communication, design, engineering and IT, and senior professional staff across academic operations, marketing and student services. The roles are advertised through the same PageUp portal as the Australian roles, filtered by Vietnam location.
How does the dual-sector model (higher education plus TAFE) affect hiring?
RMIT is one of a small number of Australian dual-sector universities, meaning it offers both higher education (bachelor, masters, PhD) and vocational education and training (Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma qualifications under the Australian Qualifications Framework). The vocational education side is governed by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) under the Standards for Registered Training Organisations and operates with different staffing requirements: vocational education teachers must hold a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122 or higher), maintain current industry currency in the relevant trade or profession, and deliver training packages rather than higher education curricula. Vocational education teaching roles are advertised through the same PageUp portal but flagged as VE, and pay scales sit on a separate schedule within the Enterprise Agreement.
What is the deal with sessional academic work at RMIT?
Sessional academics (often called "casuals") deliver a meaningful share of undergraduate teaching at RMIT, as at most Australian universities. The arrangement provides flexibility but has been the subject of sustained criticism from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the Accord process around precarity, underpayment and limited career progression. RMIT has been involved in sector-wide wage-recovery activity in recent years and is bound by reform commitments. Sessional work can be a legitimate entry path but should be entered with eyes open and with a clear plan to convert to ongoing teaching-and-research, teaching-focused or design-practice-focused roles where possible.
Does the National Tertiary Education Union represent RMIT staff, and what happened in 2024?
Yes. The NTEU represents both academic and general (professional) staff at RMIT and is a party to the RMIT Enterprise Agreement, which sets pay rates, leave entitlements, workload formulas and dispute procedures. Membership is voluntary. The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) also organises among professional staff in some areas. During the 2024 Enterprise Agreement bargaining cycle, RMIT was the site of substantial industrial action, including stop-work meetings, rolling strike action and protected industrial action across academic and professional staff, in dispute with the university over wage outcomes, workload, casualisation and the impact of cost containment programs. The dispute received sustained coverage in the Australian higher education press and was a notable moment in the sector. As a candidate, it is reasonable and welcome to ask in interviews about workload, EA settlements and consultation processes; staff and managers will engage with these questions seriously.
How significant is RMIT's design and creative practice footprint?
Internationally elite, and central to the institutional identity. The QS World University Rankings by Subject have consistently placed RMIT in the global top dozen for Art and Design over the past decade, ahead of every other Australian institution and on a comparable footing with the Royal College of Art, Parsons, Pratt and the Politecnico di Milano. The College of Design and Social Context houses the School of Design, the School of Architecture and Urban Design, the School of Fashion and Textiles, the School of Media and Communication, the School of Property, Construction and Project Management, and the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. The Design Hub (Building 100, designed by Sean Godsell) is a national-significance research and exhibition facility. RMIT Gallery in Melbourne City programs contemporary art exhibitions year-round. For design, architecture and creative practice candidates, this footprint is genuinely substantial and shapes everything from teaching loads to research output expectations to industry adjacency.
What entry-level pathways exist for new graduates?
RMIT runs Graduate Programs in professional services areas (typically marketing, finance, People, IT, project management and student services), advertised through PageUp once or twice a year. The RMIT Industry Mentoring program, the RMIT Activator startup program, and the long-running co-op and work-integrated-learning programs in business, IT, engineering and design place students with industry partners across Melbourne; alumni of these programs are often well-placed to compete for entry-level RMIT roles. For aspiring academics, the typical pathway is a research-aligned PhD followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship, often externally funded by the ARC DECRA scheme or NHMRC equivalents; for design and creative disciplines, a credible body of practice work and a HDR by Project (or doctorate by creative practice) is the equivalent entry credential.
How has the 2024 international student cap affected hiring?
The Albanese government's National Planning Level on international student commencements, introduced from 2024, materially constrained revenue across the Australian higher education sector. RMIT, with one of the largest international student populations in Australia and a heavily exposed dual-sector model that includes pathway, vocational and higher education international cohorts, has been particularly affected. The university announced multi-year cost containment programs through 2024 and into 2025, with consequent staff impacts, structural change and the industrial action described above. Expect more disciplined hiring approvals and a sharper focus on revenue-aligned roles. Core academic, clinical, design-practice and Vietnam-located recruitment continues, and longer-term workforce planning around the Accord-era reforms is in flight.
How does RMIT compare to Monash, Melbourne and Deakin for working there?
The University of Melbourne and Monash (both Go8) tend to offer larger research budgets, deeper postgraduate cohorts and more historic prestige, with sandstone or established suburban campuses; both operate at scale with more institutional process. Deakin is a younger ATN/IRU-adjacent institution with strong Geelong, Burwood and Warrnambool footprints. RMIT sits distinctively as the technology-, design- and enterprise-focused, dual-sector, Melbourne CBD university: large enrolment, design-elite identity, urban vertical city campus plus Brunswick and Bundoora, strong vocational lane, RMIT Vietnam international presence, and an ATN identity that values applied and translational research. Compensation is broadly comparable across the four under sector-wide Enterprise Agreement norms, though RMIT Vietnam roles operate on a different package structure.
Who is the Vice-Chancellor and what is the leadership context?
Alec Cameron is the Vice-Chancellor and President of RMIT University, having commenced in the role in 2025. Cameron arrived with prior senior leadership experience in the UK higher education sector, including as Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in Birmingham. He succeeded the previous Vice-Chancellor and is leading the institution through Accord-era reform, the international student cap environment, the post-2024 industrial relations cycle, the long-running Melbourne City campus master plan, and the ongoing strategic positioning of RMIT Vietnam, RMIT Europe and the dual-sector model. As a candidate, demonstrating familiarity with the public strategic narrative the VC is articulating is a useful signal in panel interviews, particularly for senior academic, professional and executive roles.
What is RMIT's approach to Indigenous engagement and reconciliation?
RMIT's Indigenous engagement is anchored on the Bundyi Girri reconciliation framework, which sets out the university's commitments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, knowledges and communities, alongside the Ngarara Willim Centre, RMIT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural centre that supports Indigenous students and connects the university with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands the Melbourne campuses sit. RMIT has Indigenous content embedded across many programs and a dedicated PVC Indigenous Education and Engagement function. As a candidate, demonstrating cultural competence, awareness of the Bundyi Girri framework and a commitment to working alongside Indigenous colleagues, students and community is a meaningful and increasingly central signal in selection processes.

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Related Resources

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Sources

  1. RMIT University - About —
  2. RMIT University - Careers and Jobs —
  3. RMIT University - Annual Reports and Governance —
  4. RMIT Enterprise Agreement (Academic & Professional Staff) —
  5. RMIT Vietnam —
  6. RMIT Europe (Barcelona) —
  7. RMIT College of Design and Social Context —
  8. RMIT Design Hub (Building 100, Sean Godsell Architects) —
  9. Bundyi Girri - RMIT Reconciliation Framework —
  10. Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) —
  11. QS World University Rankings by Subject - Art and Design —
  12. Times Higher Education - RMIT Profile —
  13. National Tertiary Education Union - RMIT Branch —
  14. Australian Universities Accord - Final Report —
  15. ABC News - RMIT Industrial Action and International Student Cap Coverage —
  16. Australian Financial Review - Higher Education Coverage —
  17. PageUp People - ATS Platform —
  18. UniSuper - University Sector Superannuation —
  19. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) —
  20. Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) —
  21. Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) —