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Claremont Teachers College
The Claremont Teachers College was built in 1901, officially opening on 31 January 1902, to accommodate 100 students. It was the first place in Western Australia where people could train locally to become teachers. Before then, anyone wanting formal teacher training usually had to go interstate.
021679PD Claremont Teachers College 1910
Designing a College
The college was designed by Hillson Beasley, the State’s Principal Architect at the time, who was also responsible for buildings like Parliament House (1902), Perth Modern School (1909) and the Fremantle Post Office (1907). The building was made from locally quarried Cottesloe limestone, which is sometimes called “Claremont limestone”. Its warm colour and durability made it a popular choice for prestigious public buildings of the era. Masonry from Donnybrook Stone was used in the doorway of the main entrance and oriel window.
The style of the building is known as Victorian Gothic, a design trend inspired by 16th-century English manor houses and colleges. This style is easy to spot thanks to its castle-like appearance, with features such as square towers with battlements (crenellations), steep gables, stone walls and cloistered (enclosed) verandahs.
221596PD A.W.A.S. receiving instruction on the use of their gas masks at a training camp held at
Claremont Teachers College, 14 September 1942
Australian Women’s Army Service
World War II caused major disruptions across the education system and Claremont Teachers College was no exception. The campus sat unused for a period, until the Department of the Army identified it as an ideal replacement training site, after their temporary use of the WACA. The college was quickly adapted for military needs, with alterations to the showers and latrines and the construction of new ablution blocks.
On 10 May 1942, around one hundred women volunteers gathered at the 5th Military District Headquarters at Swan Barracks on Francis Street, Perth. They were taken by bus to Claremont, where they began their service as part of the newly formed Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS).
In total, seven training camps were held at the College before 19 October 1942, when the decision was made to return training to the WACA for the next two intakes. From that point, the Army alternated training between the WACA and Claremont until November 1943 (Tucker, 1991)
New Teachers Colleges
Claremont Teachers College was the only teacher training facility in WA for more than 50 years. Over time, other colleges opened: Graylands in 1955 and Churchlands in 1972, which eased the pressure on Claremont. Claremont merged with several other teacher colleges in 1981 to form the Western Australian College of Advanced Education (WACAE). In 1991, WACAE became Edith Cowan University (ECU), named after Australia’s first female Member of Parliament and the Claremont campus continued as part of the university.
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238334PD Claremont Teachers' College, Group 2A (1956)
Selling the Claremont College
The University of Western Australia (UWA) bought the site in 2004. One of its uses was to house the Confucius Institute, a joint program between UWA and a Chinese university aimed at promoting Chinese language and culture through classes, workshops and public events.
Since 2023, six Australian universities including UWA, closed their Confucius Institutes after the federal government signalled it wouldn’t allow any new ones to open. These centres, run with Chinese universities to teach language and culture, became controversial over concerns they limited academic freedom and allowed Beijing to influence what was taught on campus. Reports suggested the centres monitored Chinese students, required teachers to show political loyalty and censored topics sensitive to the Chinese government. In response, the federal government demanded more transparency from universities and in some cases, made them register under the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. Officials have made it clear they see Confucius Institutes as a “problem” that must be carefully managed.
The campus was also home to the University of Western Australia Press (until 2016), Taylors College (until 2020), UWA’s Centre for English Language Teaching and the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) amongst others.
The Claremont Teachers College was classified by the National Trust on 6 October 1969, received a permanent heritage listing on the National Trust Register on 11 August 1987 and was later adopted into the Municipal Inventory on 31 December 1995.
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References
Tucker, Eileen (Reilly) (1991). We Answered the Call. Vanguard Press.
