Shaw returned to an academic position in Melbourne in 1964 as Professor of Modern History at Monash University, only three years after teaching commenced there. He held this post until his retirement in 1981, at which time he was granted the status of Emeritus Professor. He served as a member of the Monash University Council from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1991. He was general editor of the three-volume official history of Victoria published for the state's sesquicentenary in 1984. For the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia he edited a series of lectures in celebration of the sesquicentenary, published as "Victoria's Heritage" (1986).