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Universities in Australia
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  2. Top Public Universities

Top Public Universities in Australia

What are the top public Universities in Australia? uniRank answers this question by publishing a complete list of 36 public Australian higher education institutions ranked by the 2026 uniRank University Ranking and meeting uniRank's :

  • Official Recognition: institutions must be officialy chartered, licensed or accredited by the appropriate higher education-related organization in Australia.
  • Degree Authority: they must be authorised to grant bachelor's degrees of at least three years' duration and/or postgraduate master's or doctoral degrees.
  • Delivery Mode: they must deliver courses predominantly in a traditional, face-to-face, non-distance education format.

The uniRank University Ranking aims to provide a non-academic league table of the top public Australian Universities based on valid and unbiased web metrics provided by independent web intelligence sources rather than data submitted by the Universities themselves, which might not be independently audited.

Top Public Universities in Australia


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List of Australian public universities by university country ranking position
# University Town/City
1 University of New South Wales Sydney
2 The University of Sydney Sydney
3 Monash University Clayton
4 The University of Melbourne Melbourne
5 The University of Queensland St Lucia
6 Australian National University Canberra
7 The University of Adelaide Adelaide
8 Macquarie University Sydney
9 The University of Western Australia Crawley
10 University of Technology Sydney Sydney
11 RMIT University Melbourne
12 Queensland University of Technology Brisbane
13 Curtin University Perth
14 Deakin University Geelong
15 Griffith University Brisbane
16 La Trobe University Melbourne
17 University of Wollongong Wollongong
18 Western Sydney University Penrith
19 Swinburne University of Technology Hawthorn
20 The University of Newcastle Callaghan
21 University of Tasmania Hobart
22 Flinders University Adelaide
23 James Cook University Townsville
24 Charles Sturt University Bathurst
25 Murdoch University Murdoch
26 Edith Cowan University Joondalup
27 Victoria University Melbourne
28 University of New England, Australia Armidale
29 Australian Catholic University North Sydney
30 University of Canberra Canberra
31 Southern Cross University Lismore
32 University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba
33 University of the Sunshine Coast Sippy Downs
35 Central Queensland University North Rockhampton
36 Charles Darwin University Darwin
37 Federation University Australia Ballarat
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University Sector Breakdown Chart

Australian University Sector Breakdown

Source: uniRank data

Frequently Asked Questions

How many public universities are there in Australia?

There are 36 officially chartered, licensed or accredited public Australian higher-education institutions that meet uniRank's selection criteria.

Related Australian University Lists

Since 2005, UniRank provides original research, valuable information and resources to help you explore and make informed decisions about Australian universities and their online presence.