There are 42 universities in Australia out of which 37 are public universities and 4 are private universities.^[1] The Commonwealth Higher Education Support Act 2003 sets out three groups of Australian higher education providers: universities, other self-accrediting higher education institutions and state and territory accredited higher education institutions.

For admissions to universities, those students who have completed Australian state curricula are granted a state-specific Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. All Australian universities use the ATAR based "selection rank" as one of their methods of admission; universities also use past study, work experience and other considerations in granting admission. The ATAR provides an indication of the overall position of the student in relation to the student body for that year across the state. The ATAR is used by state-specific centralised admission centres for admission into university. Following bodies allocate ATAR based selection ranks and admission for the tertiary institutions in their respective states:^[2]

• Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, with a separate website for Tasmania^[3]
• South Australian Tertiary Admissions Centre (SATAC) in South Australia and the Northern Territory^[4]
• Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) in Victoria^[5]
• Tertiary Institutions Service Centre (TISC) in Western Australia ^[6]
• Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) in Queensland^[7]

For International Baccalaureate (IB) Australian students (Australian citizens) as well as the international students in Australia, the "Australasian Conference of Tertiary Admission Centres" (ACTAC) calculates an Australia-wide ATAR-like national rank called "Combined rank which combines results from across all states, thus enabling IB students to "apply in any Australian state or territory with confidence about how their results compare to their peers who have completed state curricula and received an ATAR", also "when completing your final year of schooling, ensure that you provide permission via your school for your IB results to be released to Australian tertiary admissions centres. As long as you identify yourself as an IB student and provide your IB candidate number when applying for courses, your IB scores and subject results will be received electronically and automatically converted for the purposes of selection and meeting prerequisites."^[8]

Universities in Australia

In addition to the following universities, the Australian campus of Carnegie Mellon University's H. John Heinz III College operated in the city of Adelaide in South Australia between 2006 and 2022.^[9] University College London also operated an Australian campus in Adelaide between 2009 and 2017.^[10][11] The newest Australian institution to receive university status is Avondale University in 2021.^[12]

University	Type	Campus[13]	State/ Territory [13]	Estab.	University status	Times rank[14]	ARWU rank[15]	QS rank[16]	US News rank[17]	CWTS rank [18]
Australian Catholic University	Public	Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Ballarat, Melbourne, Rome	National	1991	1991	401-500	501-600	801-850	416	1374
Australian National University	Public	Canberra	ACT	1946	1946	67	84	34=	62	259
Avondale University	Private (Australian)	Lake Macquarie, Wahroonga	NSW	1897	2021	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Bond University	Private (Australian)	Gold Coast	QLD	1987	1987	401-500	901-1000	567=	1455	N/A
Central Queensland University	Public	Rockhampton, Mackay, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, Townsville, Melbourne, Adelaide, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Noosa	QLD	1967	1992	501-600	N/A	590=	1095	1329
Charles Darwin University	Public	Darwin	NT	1989	2003	401-500	601-700	601-610	959	N/A
Charles Sturt University	Public	Albury, Bathurst, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Port Macquarie, Brisbane, Sydney (For international students only), Melbourne	NSW	1948	1989	801-1000	N/A	801-850	764	1229
Curtin University	Public	Perth, Singapore, Miri, Dubai, Mauritius	WA	1966	1986	201–250	201-300	183	160	310
Deakin University	Public	Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool	VIC	1974	1974	251–300	201-300	233=	217	297
Edith Cowan University	Public	Perth	WA	1902	1991	351-400	601-700	529	495	1003
Federation University Australia	Public	Ballarat, Churchill, Berwick, Horsham	VIC	1870	1994	601-800	N/A	N/A	1288	N/A
Flinders University	Public	Adelaide	SA	1966	1966	301–350	301-400	380	426	564
Griffith University	Public	Brisbane, Gold Coast	QLD	1971	1971	251–300	301-400	243	203	316
James Cook University	Public	Cairns, Singapore and Townsville (main)	QLD	1970	1970	351–400	301-400	415=	324	698
La Trobe University	Public	Melbourne, Bendigo, Shepparton, Wodonga, Sydney	VIC	1964	1964	251–300	301-400	242	304	524
Macquarie University	Public	Sydney	NSW	1964	1964	180	201-300	130=	192	360
Monash University	Public	Melbourne, Selangor	VIC	1958	1958	54	77	42	37=	49
Murdoch University	Public	Perth	WA	1973	1973	351-400	401-500	431=	673	927
Queensland University of Technology	Public	Brisbane	QLD	1908	1989	199=	301-400	189=	171	335
RMIT University	Public	Melbourne	VIC	1887	1992	251-300	301-400	140	209	378
Southern Cross University	Public	Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Tweed Heads, Gold Coast, Sydney (For international students only), Melbourne (For international students only)	NSW	1954	1994	501-600	901-1000	651-660	997	N/A
Swinburne University of Technology	Public	Melbourne, Kuching	VIC	1908	1992	201-250	201-300	285=	199	682
Torrens University Australia	Private (International)	Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Auckland	National, New Zealand	2014	2014	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
The University of Adelaide	Public	Adelaide	SA	1874	1874	111=	151-200	89	74	220
University of Canberra	Public	Canberra	ACT	1967	1990	351-400	801-900	421=	593	1353
University of Divinity	Private (Australian)	Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney	National	1910	2012	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
The University of Melbourne	Public	Melbourne	VIC	1853	1853	37	35	14	27	28
University of New England	Public	Armidale, Sydney	NSW	1938	1954	N/A	901-1000	951-1000	821	1081
University of New South Wales	Public	Sydney, Canberra	NSW	1949	1949	84	72	19=	37=	52
The University of Newcastle	Public	Newcastle, Central Coast (Ourimbah), a suburb of Gosford, Sydney, Singapore	NSW	1951	1965	201–250	401-500	173=	231	388
The University of Notre Dame Australia	Private (Australian)	Fremantle, Broome, Sydney	WA NSW	1989	1989	N/A	N/A	1401+	1511	N/A
The University of Queensland	Public	Brisbane, Gatton	QLD	1909	1909	70	51	43	36	48
University of South Australia	Public	Adelaide, Whyalla, Mount Gambier	SA	1856	1991	301-350	501-600	326=	263	616
University of Southern Queensland	Public	Ipswich, Springfield and Toowoomba	QLD	1967	1992	351-400	901-1000	410=	452	1210
University of the Sunshine Coast	Public	Sunshine Coast	QLD	1994	1994	501-600	701-800	1001-1200	1072	1126
The University of Sydney	Public	Sydney	NSW	1850	1850	60	73	19=	28	36
University of Tasmania	Public	Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Sydney	TAS	1890	1890	251-300	201-300	307=	273	491
University of Technology Sydney[19]	Public	Sydney	NSW	1870	1988	148	201-300	90	112	315
The University of Western Australia	Public	Perth	WA	1911	1911	143=	101-150	72	83	203
University of Wollongong	Public	Wollongong, Batemans Bay, Bega, Moss Vale, Nowra, Sydney, Dubai, Subang Jaya	NSW	1951	1975	201-250	201-300	162	186	398
Victoria University	Public	Melbourne, Sydney	VIC	1916	1990	401-500	N/A	711-720	649	1282
Western Sydney University	Public	Sydney	NSW	1891	1989	301-350	301-400	375=	234	615

• 
  The University of Melbourne, Melbourne
• 
  The University of Western Australia, Perth
• 
  University of South Australia, Adelaide
• 
  University of Technology Sydney, Sydney
• 
  Edith Cowan University, Perth
• 
  The University of Notre Dame Australia, Perth
• 
  Bond University, Gold Coast
• 
  The University of Queensland, Brisbane
• 
  The University of Sydney, Sydney
• 
  RMIT University, Melbourne
• 
  Monash University, Melbourne
• 
  University of New South Wales, Sydney
• 
  Macquarie University, Sydney
• 
  Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
• 
  Australian National University, Canberra
• 
  Charles Sturt University, Bathurst
• 
  Curtin University, Perth
• 
  University of Adelaide, Adelaide
• 
  University of New England, Armidale
• 
  University of Canberra, Canberra
• 
  Deakin University, Melbourne
• 
  Murdoch University, Perth
• 
  Australian Catholic University, Brisbane

National university groups

• Australian-European Network - a network of 5 Australian universities who cooperate with 31 European universities on student exchange programs.^[20]
• Australian Technology Network - technology-focused Australian universities that mostly originated as institutes of technology.^[21]
• Group of Eight - research intensive high-ranking Australian universities, similar to Russell Group in the United Kingdom.^[22]
• Innovative Research Universities - a coalition of Australian universities with focus on higher education advocacy and research.^[23]
• Red Brick Universities - the University of New South Wales, Monash University and the Australian National University
• Regional Universities Network - a group of regional, distance education and multi-campus university networks.^[24]
• Open Universities Australia - a group of universities that offer distance education courses as part of a common platform.^[25]
• Sandstone Universities - an informal group of the oldest universities in each Australian state with colonial-era sandstone buildings.
• Verdant universities - an informal group of Australian universities founded in the 1960s and 70s, often with nature reserves or vegetation^[26]
• NUW Alliance - the University of Newcastle, the University of New South Wales and the University of Wollongong^[27]