The Special Collections comprise of many individual collections and are a valuable research resource. The Collections have strong threads of radical literature, particularly Australian Communist literature, much of which is rare or unique. Women and urban planning also feature across the Collections.
There are collections that give you a picture of the people who donated them, such as Ray Verrills, John and Shirley McLaren, Sir Zelman Cowen, and Ruth and Maurie Crow. Other collections, such as the PNG and the Pacific collection and Timor-Leste collection, focus on Australia's neighbours.
The Special Collections listed below were accepted from their donors because they support the key research areas at Victoria University.
VU Special Collections – How to access and use online guide provides researcher stories, historical information about the individual collections, and past exhibitions.
The VU Archives hold historical material published by Victoria University, and relating to the organisation and its predecessors.