VU important driver of Melbourne's west
New findings show that Victoria University is a significant contributor to the size and productivity of the Western Melbourne economy.
Economic modelling by VU’s Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS) shows that the University’s activities contributed some $630 million to the region’s 2013 GDP and boosted its employment by 4,400 jobs.
Professor John Madden
Report author Professor John Madden says the modelling was developed specifically to examine the effects a university has on a region within a city.
“The study shows considerable benefits from the effects of spending by the University, the students it attracts to the West, and the effects VU has on the region’s skill base.”
As the only one of Melbourne’s seven universities to be based in the city’s West, VU was shown to have a significant impact on raising the region’s productivity. During the two decades to 2013, around 113,000 students obtained degrees or vocational qualifications from VU.
The modelling shows that the region benefited from a $69 million increase in labour productivity from those graduates who remained in the west, and from an $11 million boost to its industries’ productivity from VU research.
Indirect, multiplier impacts, including attracting new businesses to the region, or prompting existing ones to expand their activities, were estimated to add a further $183 million to the region’s GDP.
The Economic Effects of Victoria University on Western Melbourne was released at a Gala Dinner in the Great Hall of the National Gallery on 21 May to celebrate VU’s 100th anniversary of the founding of its inaugural institute, Footscray Technical School.
The full report is available upon request.
The Centre of Policy Studies is a world–leading independent research unit that has developed economic modelling and software used in about 70 countries by governments and businesses including the Australian Treasury, the US Department of Commerce, the World Bank, and the Chinese State Information Centre.
