Oxford and Cambridge Cup entry into the boat race. In 1956 New South Wales, 1963 Monash, 1966 Australian National and Newcastle, 1969 LaTrobe and 1973 Macquarie Universities gained entry. The Australian higher education reforms of the early 1990s opened the door for many former Technical Colleges and Colleges of Advanced Education to enter the boat race for the first time. 1968 was the last year that the race was held over the traditional 'Thames Putney Mortlake' equivalent course. Due to increasing pressure for a standardised course distance, fairer courses, and the increasing focus of state and national programs on the Olympic distance, delegates from
Shire of Mortlake of Moyne. The Shire of Mortlake was divided into four ridings on 7 June 1978, each of which elected three councillors: Shire of Mortlake The Shire of Mortlake was a local government area about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1994. Mortlake was incorporated as a road district on 20 July 1860, and became a shire on 26 January 1864. On 23 September 1994, the Shire of Mortlake was abolished, and, along with the Borough of Port Fairy, the Tower Hill Reserve, the Shires of