The initial predecessor institution to Southern Cross University was the Lismore Teachers' College, which commenced operation on 23 February 1970. On 1 September 1971, the Lismore Teachers College became a College of Advanced Education, under the Higher Education Act 1969, with the institution soon renamed Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education in 1973. on 29 June 1993, the federal and state ministers for education jointly announced that a new university would be established on the North Coast of NSW. Southern Cross University was formally established on 1 January 1994. In 2010, Southern Cross University opened a new campus in the southern Gold Coast area of Queensland