Howitt Hall
Howitt Hall is the tallest residential hall on campus with the upper floors providing wonderful panoramic views of the campus, Port Phillip Bay and the Melbourne City skyline.
Accommodation floors each host around 20 single rooms, shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. There is a study room located on the first floor and social spaces including, music room, theatre, lounges, with pool tables and table tennis tables for residents enjoyment located on the ground and basement floors.
Check out the map showing the location of Howitt Hall on campus.
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| 196 residents 14 floors | 20 washers 20 dryers | 14 - 20 bathrooms | 8 - 12 kitchens |
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Your room
You'll have your own carpeted room with:
- A king single bed
- Desk and chair
- VOIP telephone and 1GB/sec internet access
- Wardrobe and drawers
- Online TV streaming (with access to 30 channels)
- Heating
- Desk fan
- Smoke alarm, automatic sprinkler, and locks on every door and window
- Clothes airer (drying rack)
Shared facilities
As well as your room, you will have access to the shared facilities of Howitt Hall including:
- Common room
- Study rooms/library
- Games room
- Music rehearsal room
- Outdoor BBQ area
- Veggie Gardens
As part of the campus, MRS is supported by the University's security services, with security assistance on hand 24/7 - but we also have dedicated ‘MRS’ services personnel on site each night at Clayton to assist all residents and to ensure safety and security. Here are some of the other ways we keep everyone safe:
- MRS is part of the University Respect Now Always initiative and mobile app.
- Only residents have access to their hall (via proxy card or security key access)
- All rooms have their own lock for added privacy
- All halls and rooms have smoke alarms and fire-safety equipment which are checked regularly
- On-Campus Security personnel can escort you to your residence if you’re returning late at night - and security staff are based in or close to the residences
- We run fire safety inductions and regular drills
- Our Residential Support Teams are made up of senior Monash University staff and student leaders who live in each hall to support each resident. They are trained to understand the special needs of younger students living away from home for the first time.
- Residential Support Team members have first-aid training, mental health first-aid training and all are required to have a Working With Children Check.
A safe environment requires cooperation from everyone in the residential community, which is why our Conditions of Residency includes a number of security initiatives and responsibilities.
Mascot and flag
To pay homage to Alfred Howitt’s search for Burke and Wills, Howitt Hall’s mascot is a camel. Our colours are red, black and yellow and we camels proudly wear these colours on special occasions and to support our fellow camels at sporting events.
Residential Support Team Officers
Our live-in Residential Support Team Officers (RSTO) offer guidance and support; they’re dedicated to making sure you're comfortable with all aspects of campus life and you're included in the fun.
Pricing and application
If you'd like to live at Howitt Hall and be part of our community, please apply here.
Howitt Hall's history
Alfred Howitt
1830 - 1908
Howitt Hall is named in honour and recognition of Alfred Howitt, explorer, geologist and anthropologist.
Alfred Howitt (1830 - 1908) was born in Nottingham (England) in 1830. He was educated in England and Germany and came to Australia in 1852, with his father and younger brother, to work in the Victorian goldfields.
The family had some modest success during the next two years, but not enough to keep them in Australia. When his father and brother returned to England in 1854, Howitt remained, working for a while on his uncle's property and then as a drover on the route from the Murray to Melbourne. He had become an experienced bushman, with a keen interest in the geology and little-studied life forms of the bush. His knowledge was put to good use when he was sent, in 1859, into Central Australia to look for useable grazing country in the region of Lake Eyre. (An earlier explorer had spoken glowingly of the region, but Howitt found it in drought and his report was not encouraging.)
Soon after his return, he led a successful gold mining expedition into Gippsland and the Victorian alps. This venture also led to the opening up of the more rugged parts of Gippsland. His experience in these expeditions resulted in his appointment as head of the search for the lost Burke and Wills expedition, and later he led the party to return their remains to Melbourne. The success of these ventures is reflected in the comment 'a copybook explorer, who never lost a man, a horse or a camel on his expeditions'.
In 1863, upon his return to Melbourne, Howitt was appointed Magistrate and Warden of the Gippsland gold fields, a position he held for 26 years. Whilst stationed at Omeo, Bairnsdale and Sale, he dedicated his spare time to studying the minerals and timber of the Gippsland. His Eucalypts of Gippsland (1889) became a standard authority on the flora of the region. Subsequently his studies of the aborigines, culminating in his book Native Tribes of Southeast Australia, laid the foundations for scientific anthropology in Australia. His scientific studies continued until his death in 1908.
In his later years Howitt's achievements were recognised by King Edward VII (Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George), Cambridge University (Honorary Doctor of Science), and numerous scientific institutions such as the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Society of New South Wales. The University owns a portrait of Howitt, painted by Tom Roberts in 1900; it has become part of the permanent collection housed in the University Art Gallery.
(Picture acknowledgement: Special thanks to the Gallery for scanning the picture and allowing us to use it.)
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