Our Dookie campus has played a key role in the development of agriculture and agricultural teaching and learning in Australia since 1886 and remains a focal point for the research, teaching and technology development helping to shape the future of agriculture in Australia.
Situated on 2,440 hectares, the campus includes a small community that houses our students and teaching staff, merino sheep, an orchard, a robotic dairy, a winery and a natural bush reserve.
We acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of country, their elders past and present and for their ongoing custodial care of this place. This includes the Yorta Yorta but also to the near south the Tuangwurrung of the Kulin peoples.
The rivers of Yorta Yorta Country have nourished community and Country over millennia.
The waters provide a rich abundance of nutrients to the soil, often spilling their banks to soak the roots of the river red gums. The Dunghala (Murray River) lies at the centre of Yorta Yorta Country, bringing community together to share in the plentiful resources.
Yorta Yorta people have a long legacy of colonial resistance and integrity. From the campaigning of Uncle William Cooper and the establishment of the Day of Mourning, to the Cummeragunja walk off in 1939 - the people of the Yorta Yorta nation have always stood against injustice. Through deep time, Yorta Yorta have deeply cared for Country and for community. The tides of history will never wash away the enduring and essential connection between Yorta Yorta people and their Country.
At the Dookie Campus we work with, and learn from, Yorta Yorta Country to find ways to nourish and care for our communities. We respect the ongoing and unceded sovereignty of Yorta Yorta peoples and their responsibilities to Country.
An excerpt from Story of Place by Maddison Miller
Explore the campus and surrounds
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Farm
At the Dookie Campus farm estate, work is underway with partners in industry, government and the community to help meet the challenge of food security.
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Winery
Dookie's history of teaching winemaking and viticulture dates back to the end of the 19th century when the winery was built in 1896.
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Dookie Bushland Reserve
An excellent location for facilitating insights into natural resource management issues including fuel reduction, flora and fauna, conservation, restoration, and pest, animal and plant management.
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Accommodation at Dookie
Live in a small community with a variety of housing from dormitories to self-contained cottages, a range of conference venues, recreational and sporting facilities, and a natural bush reserve and Mount Major within its surroundings.
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Intensive subjects at Dookie
Doing fieldwork or taking an intensive at Dookie campus is an exciting and enriching experience. This guide contains all the information you need to make the most of your time at Dookie.
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History of the Dookie campus
Dookie's association with the University of Melbourne began in 1910 when Bachelor of Agricultural Science students spent a year at Dookie as part of their degree studies.
Discover Dookie
Our Dookie campus offers a unique student learning experience including a vineyard, working winery and brewery, grazing and cropping farm and orchard. Discover the Dookie campus and learn from researchers onsite who are exploring critical agricultural issues such as food security, biodiversity and water efficiency.
A 30-minute drive to Benalla and Shepparton, the campus is surrounded by bushland reserves and the Dookie Rail Trail, that covers some of the Goulburn Valley’s most fertile farmland.