During his first four trips to Europe, Ormond visited a number of technical colleges, to examined their methods and practices.
He set out to apply the best of these methods and practices to a model for a similar college in Victoria.

One result of this was his conviction that a working men's college would serve a very useful purpose, and he intimated that if the government would provide a site he would give £5000 towards the building.
He met with no encouragement, and the scheme was temporarily dropped.

In May the question of a Working Men's College was revived.
He again offered £5000 and, after some preliminary difficulties had been disposed of, the college was at last opened in June 1887.
There were 320 students on the opening night, within 12 months the number had risen to over 1000.
The number of students reached nearly 10,000 in 1938.
Later known as the Royal Melbourne Technical College and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, it's known today as RMIT University and is one of Australia's largest and leading universities.
During his first four trips to Europe, Ormond visited a number of technical colleges, to examined their methods and practices. He set out to apply the best of these methods and practices to a model for a similar college in Victoria.
One result of this was his conviction that a working men's college would serve a very useful purpose, and he intimated that if the government would provide a site he would give £5000 towards the building. He met with no encouragement, and the scheme was temporarily dropped.
In May the question of a Working Men's College was revived. He again offered £5000 and, after some preliminary difficulties had been disposed of, the college was at last opened in June 1887. There were 320 students on the opening night, within 12 months the number had risen to over 1000. The number of students reached nearly 10,000 in 1938. Later known as the Royal Melbourne Technical College and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, it's known today as RMIT University and is one of Australia's largest and leading universities.
Francis Ormond