In 1990, FIT merged with the Western Institute, which had been founded three years earlier to provide TAFE and higher education courses to the outlying suburbs in western Melbourne. In 1990, it was established as a university by the Victoria State Parliament as Victoria University of Technology. The University further amalgamation with the Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE in 1998. In 2005, the Victoria University of Technology Act of 1990 was amended to rename the University as Victoria University, reflecting the development of its teaching and research.