RMIT renews decade-long partnership as ACMI's Major University Partner

As Australia's #1 ranked university for Art & Design (*QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026), RMIT's partnership with Australia's national museum of screen culture creates rich and diverse opportunities for collaborative public programming, and student, academic and public engagement.

One key initiative is the ACMI + RMIT Audience Lab, an industry pathway program that invites game developers, filmmakers, moving image artists and other emerging screen-based creators to showcase works-in-progress and receive real-time feedback from museum visitors. Backed by an RMIT-led skills workshop that helps participants translate audience reactions into meaningful development insights, the Lab has tested more than 180 projects since 2018 and supported RMIT Bachelor of Design (Games) alumni who have gone on to receive major industry recognition, including award-winning titles such as Cult of the Lamb and Untitled Goose Game.

Building on this model, the ACMI + RMIT Young Creators’ Lab adapts the format for 10 to 16-year-olds. The program investigates how educational gaming fosters creativity, critical thinking and play-based skills development. A recent Australian Research Council (ARC) grant is supporting curriculum development aligned with the program, helping scale game-creation learning opportunities for secondary students and extend earlier work in school-based screen, media and digital literacy.

The annual ACMI + RMIT Games Prize, a $5,000 award and ACMI X co-working residency for a promising RMIT graduate, has also become a significant launchpad, with past winners going on to secure VicScreen funding and, in some cases, Screen Australia support, to propel their games towards commercial release. The Games Prize is expanding to include RMIT Vietnam students who will travel for Melbourne International Games Week in 2026.

The partnership has enabled RMIT to embed real-world, experimental practice directly into students' education, with teaching and learning remaining central to the collaboration. Students from a wide range of disciplines, from Arts Management to Professional Communication, undertake internships and Work Integrated Learning projects at ACMI, responding to tangible briefs in areas such as exhibition support, digital experience, design, and music-related programming.

RMIT and ACMI have also developed micro-credentials for teachers, and students training to be teachers, to engage more effectively with the Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector, drawing inspiration from teachers who successfully connect excursions to classroom learning.

The ACMI X Residency Program is an annual opportunity open to RMIT graduates and HDR candidates. Located at ACMI in Fed Square, ACMI X is a hub made up of creative practitioners, startups and businesses working with creative technology across film, TV, video games and art. ACMI X provides a space and community that enables discovery, learning and growth for individuals and businesses, and fosters cross-disciplinary partnerships between ACMI X residents and ACMI's own creative employees.

An RMIT x ACMI ARC Fellowship project, Enhancing Discoverability of Australian Children's TV in the Streaming Era, investigates how young audiences access entertainment via streaming, to inform industry, policy and cultural strategies that improve their access to quality, local and age-appropriate content, also in partnership with the Australian Children's Television Foundation.

A new toolkit, Gathering, Analysing and Translating Impact, was developed through the Australian Research Council-supported Museum Digital Social Futures project, led by RMIT researchers in partnership with ACMI and the Australian Museums and Galleries Association. This toolkit is designed to support museums, galleries and other cultural organisations make better use of the audience insights they already collect every day, by translating qualitative audience data into evidence of impact. Initial research findings were presented at ACMI's annual FACT Symposium 2026, alongside presentations from fellow RMIT academics weighing in on the future of arts, culture and technology.

The partnership's public impact was most recently on display in ACMI's Game Worlds exhibition, which celebrated over 50 years of videogames through more than 30 titles spanning the 1970s to today, including global favourites like Minecraft, Final Fantasy XIV Online and The Sims. Alongside original builds, rare design materials and hands-on prototypes, the exhibition featured four newly commissioned Australian microgames, among them What's Your Angle, created by RMIT Bachelor of Design (Games) students Callum Chatfield and Mally He, which was further developed through ACMI's Microgames Commission.

RMIT College of Design and Social Context Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tim Marshall says the renewal reflects a shared commitment to nurturing the next generation of screen-based creative talent.

“Through our highly successful ten-year partnership, ACMI and RMIT have led the way in research and museum innovation. This partnership gives our students and researchers a direct line to industry, audiences, and real-world impact,” Marshall says.

“Over the past decade, we've seen firsthand how initiatives like the Audience Lab and the Young Creators’ Lab translate research and academic excellence into tangible career pathways for our graduates. Stepping into the next chapter of our partnership with ACMI as Major University Partner is a powerful endorsement of what this collaboration has achieved, and what the future holds.”

Seb Chan, Director & CEO of ACMI, said “We are delighted that 2026 marks ten years of the remarkable ACMI-RMIT partnership. Since it began over a decade ago, this Major University Partnership has delivered impactful projects for students, industry and diverse audiences across the community. It's a generative, generous and impact driven partnership, and rewarding to see two Victorian institutions with a global outlook driving innovation across the education and creative sectors together. As we look ahead to the next three years, we remain committed to fostering forward thinking education practices and supercharging the next generation of screen-based artists and creative leaders.”

The renewed partnership will continue to underpin joint programming, research and student opportunities across ACMI's exhibitions, public programs and industry initiatives throughout 2026 and beyond.