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When the Veterinary School opened at Murdoch University in 1979, it was only the fourth in Australia. The first cohort of students graduated that same year, having first enrolled in 1975.
A central reason for the establishment of a second university in Western Australia was the need for a Veterinary School – recognising the importance of the agricultural sector to the State and that it was increasingly untenable for prospective students moving interstate to study.
Western Australian Premier Sir Charles Court officially opened the School at a formal ceremony with dignitaries from across the State.
In inviting the Premier to speak, Murdoch Chancellor Sir Ronald Wilson expressed the importance of the School to the entire State when he said: “We believe that our magnificent new School and our University will be a source of continuing excitement for Western Australia.”
Listen now to the Murdoch University Chancellor speak about the significance of the School of Veterinary Studies at the official opening of the School in 1979.
The new School took up one third of the entire capital expenditure of the Murdoch campus. The inaugural Dean of the School of Veterinary Studies at Murdoch, Professor Bob Dunlop, was a world-renowned veterinary leader from Canada.
Not long after his commencement he was forced to defend the School after many in the veterinary community nationally, and through the media, expressed their concerns that it would cause an oversupply of vets for the marketplace.
Image caption: Horse inside paddock at Murdoch University (1998)
Image caption: Vet students cleaning horse hooves (1998)
Image: A Veterinary School demonstration in action 1979
Despite national criticism, Professor Dunlop received unwavering support from the wider University, the Australian Veterinary Association and Premier Court, who said at the official opening: “We know clearly where we are going and this is a very important day and a very wonderful school as far as I am concerned and we’re going to insist that it continues to have this great quality and the great depth which with it has been founded.”
Today, Murdoch still offers WA’s only Veterinary Science course.
The Veterinary Teaching Hospital (now known as The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University or TAHMU) was established alongside the Veterinary School right from the beginning, and together these iconic Western Australian services have helped to train generations of veterinarians both locally and from around the world.
From the outset the School made provision for students from States or Territories which did not yet have their own veterinary schools, along with international students and local aspiring vets. An information brochure produced in 1977 explained the allocation of places.
"There is an entry quota of 48 students per year, including up to 12 students from South Australia and up to four students from Tasmania and/or the Northern Territory. A further four places may be filled by overseas students from countries which do not have adequate veterinary training programs."
Listen now to Sir Charles Court officially opening Murdoch’s School of Veterinary Studies.
Image caption: The first cohort of students to graduate from Murdoch University's School of Veterinary Science. Photo from Early History of the Murdoch Veterinary School, Credit: Bill Clark and John Grandage (Australian Veterinary History Record no. 43, 2005).
The School was indeed a success with the first cohort of veterinary students graduating in 1979 and quality graduates remaining in high demand from across the globe from then until today.
A veterinary degree from Murdoch is fully accredited by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council (AVBC), the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) in the UK, and Murdoch was also the first Australian school to gain accreditation with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
In addition to the 24-hour emergency services in The Animal Hospital at Murdoch University (TAHMU), which is open to the public, the Veterinary School now houses livestock and large animal centres, working vet farms and other research centres.
Major milestones of Murdoch’s Veterinary services throughout the years have included the opening of The Small Animal Clinic in 1989, the Pet Emergency Centre in 1999, the development of a new $6.2 million surgical teaching facility for the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences in 2011 and the opening of Western Australia’s most advanced equine diagnostic imaging facility, in 2023.
The in-demand education of Murdoch’s School of Veterinary Medicine continues to give students a world-class opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and practical experience necessary to solve the existing and emerging problems of our companion animals, livestock and wildlife.