Monash University took its first students at its foundation campus in Clayton in 1961, becoming the first university established in Victoria in more than 100 years. Its foundational legislation is the Monash University Act 2009 (Vic), under which the University Council is the governing authority. Professor Sharon Pickering is Vice-Chancellor and President.
The 2025 annual report records 91,850 students enrolled in Australia, a preliminary figure that excludes overseas campuses and offshore partners; Clayton had 59,320 and Caulfield 22,581. Outside Australia it lists a campus in Malaysia, its first international campus, opened in 1998; a campus in Indonesia launched in 2021; a campus in Prato, Italy; the IITB Monash Research Academy in Mumbai, run with IIT Bombay; and a joint graduate school with Southeast University in Suzhou. In 2025 it announced a new Malaysia campus with capacity for 22,500 students, due to open in 2032.