| # | University | City | World rank | In-country | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Melbourne | Melbourne | #19 (2026) | #1 | 31,676,111 |
| 2 | University of New South Wales | Sydney | #19 (2026) | #2 | 20,718,995 |
| 3 | University of Sydney | Sydney | #25 (2026) | #3 | 27,787,623 |
| 4 | Australian National University | Canberra | #30 (2026) | #4 | 14,947,050 |
| 5 | Monash University | #37 (2026) | #5 | 22,352,651 | |
| 6 | University of Queensland | #42 (2026) | #6 | 29,450,611 | |
| 7 | University of Western Australia | #77 (2026) | #8 | 13,664,572 | |
| 8 | St. George's University (Australia) | #77 (2026) | #7 | 13,664,572 | |
| 9 | University of Adelaide | Adelaide | #79 (2027) | #9 | 30,727,269 |
| 10 | University of Technology Sydney | #96 (2026) | #10 | 5,557,618 | |
| 11 | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology | #125 (2026) | #11 | 4,313,142 | |
| 12 | Macquarie University | #138 (2026) | #12 | 5,595,918 | |
| 13 | Curtin University | #183 (2026) | #13 | 5,703,197 | |
| 14 | University of Wollongong | Wollongong | #184 (2026) | #14 | 5,278,976 |
| 15 | Deakin University | #207 (2026) | #15 | 5,970,140 | |
| 16 | Queensland University of Technology | #226 (2026) | #16 | 6,299,831 | |
| 17 | The University of Newcastle | Newcastle | #227 (2026) | #17 | 5,453,403 |
| 18 | La Trobe University | Victoria | #233 (2026) | #18 | 4,480,488 |
| 19 | Griffith University | #268 (2026) | #19 | 5,653,063 | |
| 20 | University of Tasmania | #314 (2026) | #20 | 4,463,750 | |
| 21 | University of South Australia | #340 (2025) | #21 | 3,831,326 | |
| 22 | Flinders University of South Australia | #387 (2026) | #22 | 3,736,421 | |
| 23 | Western Sydney University | Sydney | #400 (2026) | #23 | 2,992,352 |
| 24 | University of Southern Queensland | #410 (2026) | #24 | 1,149,506 | |
| 25 | Murdoch University | #423 (2026) | #25 | 2,024,973 | |
| 26 | James Cook University of North Queensland | #440 (2026) | #26 | 3,730,801 | |
| 27 | James Cook University | Douglas | #440 (2026) | #26 | 3,730,801 |
| 28 | Edith Cowan University | Perth | #487 (2026) | #27 | 1,632,008 |
| 29 | University of Canberra | #494 (2026) | #28 | 1,244,351 | |
| 30 | Southern Cross University | #576 (2025) | #29 | 740,373 | |
| 31 | Bond University | #587 (2025) | #30 | 762,854 | |
| 32 | Victoria University | not ranked | #33 | 1,364,348 | |
| 33 | University of the Sunshine Coast | Queensland | not ranked | #39 | 664,221 |
| 34 | University of Notre Dame Australia | not ranked | #42 | 288,210 | |
| 35 | Torrens University Australia | Adelaide | not ranked | #43 | 119,606 |
| 36 | Avondale University | not ranked | #46 | 21,802 | |
| 37 | Avondale University College | Sydney | not ranked | #46 | 21,802 |
| 38 | Box Hill Institute | not ranked | #47 | 8,888 | |
| 39 | South Metropolitan TAFE | not ranked | #50 | 2,285 | |
| 40 | Australian Lutheran College | not ranked | #51 | 579 | |
| 41 | Swinburne University of Technology | not ranked | #31 | 3,046,429 | |
| 42 | University of Western Sydney | not ranked | #32 | 2,992,352 | |
| 43 | Central Queensland University | not ranked | #35 | 1,263,213 | |
| 44 | Charles Sturt University | not ranked | #36 | 1,109,495 | |
| 45 | Australian Catholic University | not ranked | #37 | 975,593 | |
| 46 | Charles Darwin University | not ranked | #38 | 896,656 | |
| 47 | Federation University Australia | not ranked | #40 | 485,819 | |
| 48 | Australian Defence Force Academy | not ranked | #41 | 318,751 | |
| 49 | Australian Maritime College | not ranked | #44 | 96,404 | |
| 50 | Linuwel School | not ranked | #45 | 32,617 |
1
2
What the two columns mean
In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.
The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.