Australian universities

All 42 institutions registered by TEQSA in the Australian University category: 36 public universities and 6 private ones. For each we show where it sits in the major world rankings, as published, and how many students it taught in 2024.

How to read these rankings

Each ranking measures different things, and all of them reward research far more than teaching. A university can rise in one and fall in another in the same year.
Ranks are shown as published. Below the top 200 or so, publishers give bands such as 301–350, not exact places. An "=" means a tie.
The year is the edition year the publisher puts on the ranking. Editions are usually released during the year before the year in their name.
"In Australia" is the university's position among Australian universities in that same ranking. Universities in the same band, or tied, share a position.
We do not combine the rankings into a score of our own. Small, specialist and teaching-focused universities are often unranked because they publish too few research papers to qualify.

#	University	State	Type	Founded	THE 2027	ARWU 2026	QS 2027	Students 2024	Profile
1	The University of MelbourneGo8	VIC	Public	1853	=341 in AU	371 in AU	=222 in AU	75,513	Profile
2	The University of SydneyGo8	NSW	Public	1850	=512 in AU	794 in AU	283 in AU	78,825	Profile
3	Monash UniversityGo8	VIC	Public	1958	613 in AU	763 in AU	315 in AU	93,159	Profile
4	The University of QueenslandGo8	QLD	Public	1909	=734 in AU	732 in AU	=406 in AU	57,130	Profile
5	UNSW SydneyGo8	NSW	Public	1949	=755 in AU	815 in AU	191 in AU	82,272	Profile
6	The Australian National UniversityGo8	ACT	Public	1946	776 in AU	101–1506 in AU	294 in AU	23,778	Profile
7	Adelaide UniversityGo8	SA	Public	–	=1417 in AU	101–1506 in AU	798 in AU	–	Profile
8	University of Technology Sydney	NSW	Public	1988	1528 in AU	201–3009 in AU	=879 in AU	50,257	Profile
9	Macquarie University	NSW	Public	1964	=1619 in AU	301–40013 in AU	=12611 in AU	44,849	Profile
10	The University of Western AustraliaGo8	WA	Public	1911	=17310 in AU	101–1506 in AU	=777 in AU	29,495	Profile
11	Deakin University	VIC	Public	1974	21811 in AU	201–3009 in AU	22714 in AU	59,359	Profile
12	Queensland University of Technology	QLD	Public	1989	=22212 in AU	301–40013 in AU	24016 in AU	52,423	Profile
13	RMIT University	VIC	Public	1887	=23913 in AU	301–40013 in AU	=11910 in AU	75,976	Profile
14	University of Wollongong	NSW	Public	1975	=24714 in AU	301–40013 in AU	19513 in AU	34,931	Profile
15	Griffith University	QLD	Public	1971	26615 in AU	301–40013 in AU	=23015 in AU	44,514	Profile
16	University of Tasmania	TAS	Public	1890	=27716 in AU	301–40013 in AU	–	32,009	Profile
17	La Trobe University	VIC	Public	1964	29117 in AU	401–50021 in AU	=24117 in AU	37,480	Profile
18	Curtin University	WA	Public	1966	=29218 in AU	201–3009 in AU	18912 in AU	56,918	Profile
19	Swinburne University of Technology	VIC	Public	1908	29419 in AU	201–3009 in AU	29119 in AU	45,354	Profile
20	The University of Newcastle	NSW	Public	1965	29520 in AU	401–50021 in AU	24418 in AU	34,808	Profile
21	Flinders University	SA	Public	1966	301–32521 in AU	401–50021 in AU	–	24,896	Profile
22	Western Sydney University	NSW	Public	1989	301–32521 in AU	301–40013 in AU	–	47,820	Profile
23	James Cook University	QLD	Public	1961	326–35023 in AU	301–40013 in AU	–	19,807	Profile
24	Edith Cowan University	WA	Public	1991	351–37524 in AU	901–100028 in AU	–	30,822	Profile
25	University of Southern Queensland	QLD	Public	1967	376–40025 in AU	701–80025 in AU	–	20,543	Profile
26	Australian Catholic University	Multi-state	Public	1991	401–45026 in AU	501–60024 in AU	–	35,037	Profile
27	Bond University	QLD	Private	1987	401–45026 in AU	901–100028 in AU	–	5,939	Profile
28	Murdoch University	WA	Public	1973	401–45026 in AU	801–90027 in AU	–	24,744	Profile
29	University of Canberra	ACT	Public	1967	401–45026 in AU	–	–	17,676	Profile
30	Charles Darwin University	NT	Public	2003	451–50030 in AU	–	–	12,672	Profile
31	CQUniversity Australia	QLD	Public	1967	451–50030 in AU	–	–	22,033	Profile
32	Federation University Australia	VIC	Public	1870	501–55032 in AU	–	–	12,478	Profile
33	Southern Cross University	NSW	Public	1994	551–60033 in AU	–	–	18,348	Profile
34	University of the Sunshine Coast	QLD	Public	1996	551–60033 in AU	701–80025 in AU	–	18,850	Profile
35	Victoria University	VIC	Public	1916	551–60033 in AU	–	–	34,599	Profile
36	Charles Sturt University	NSW	Public	1989	651–70036 in AU	–	–	35,003	Profile
37	The University of Notre Dame Australia	WA	Private	1989	801–100037 in AU	–	–	11,990	Profile
38	Australian University of Theology	Multi-state	Private	1891	–	–	–	–	Profile
39	Avondale University	NSW	Private	–	–	–	–	1,069	Profile
40	Torrens University Australia	SA	Private	2013	–	–	–	25,439	Profile
41	University of Divinity	VIC	Private	1910	–	–	–	1,253	Profile
42	University of New England	NSW	Public	1938	–	–	–	19,355	Profile

Default order: position among Australian universities in the THE 2027 ranking, then name; unranked universities last. Rank columns show the world rank as published and, below it, the position in Australia. "–" means not ranked in that edition, or for QS 2027, outside the top 300 we hold. Students: total students (all levels of course), 2024, Department of Education Higher Education Statistics; Adelaide University's predecessors are shown on its profile. Australian University of Theology is not reported separately.

What each ranking measures

THE

Weights teaching environment, research volume and reputation, citations, industry income and international outlook. Reputation surveys and citations carry much of the weight.

Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 · 2026. Copyright Times Higher Education; single rank figures reproduced as facts with attribution. We will remove them on request.

ARWU

Counts research outputs only: Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals among alumni and staff, highly cited researchers, papers in Nature and Science, and indexed publications. Teaching is not measured.

Source: Academic Ranking of World Universities, ShanghaiRanking Consultancy 2026 · 2025. Copyright ShanghaiRanking Consultancy; single rank figures reproduced as facts with attribution. We will remove them on request.

QS

Leans heavily on reputation surveys of academics and employers, plus citations per faculty, staff-to-student ratio, international mix, employment outcomes and sustainability.

Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds (www.qs.com). Copyright © QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. 2027 · 2026. QS figures were read from Internet Archive copies of topuniversities.com. QS asks commercial sites to obtain its written permission, which we have not yet received; we will remove these figures on request.

University list: Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) National Register; © Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Education). Full licences on the data sources page.