Our history

While the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health was first established in 2001. the involvement of the University in post graduate public health education began well before, under the auspice of the Public Health Education and Research Program (PHERP). This national program was established in 1987 to further develop public health education and research capacity in Australia. It funded a Victorian consortium of Universities comprising the University of Melbourne, Deakin, La Trobe and Monash Universities to deliver a single Master of Public Health across Victoria with specialities offered by each University partner.

In 2009, the end of PHERP funding was flagged and the members of the Victorian MPH Consortium began a transition to stand alone graduate public health degrees in each University. In MSPGH a rigorous planning and development process was set in train to shape the content of a modern Master of Public Health, responsive to public health challenges and workforce needs in Australia and around the world. Planning was led by Professor Dallas English and the inaugural head of MSPGH, Professor Terry Nolan.

In a highly collaborative process through 2009 and 2010, the MPH Working Group spanned research centres and disciplines, building a new MPH with core competencies and diverse elective offerings, reflecting the research strengths and breadth of the School. The inclusion of qualitative as well as quantitative methods as core in the degree differentiated MSPGH from other schools of public health and cemented our MPH as truly multidisciplinary.

The combination of high-quality teaching and world leading research that underpinned the new degree ensured a highly successful launch of the Melbourne MPH in 2011.