39 Best Art & Design schools in Australia

Updated: March 15, 2026

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in Australia ranked based on their research performance in Art & Design. A graph of 6.58M citations received by 283K academic papers made by 39 universities in Australia was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

Please note that our approach to subject rankings is based on scientific outputs and heavily biased on art-related topics towards institutions with computer science research profiles.

1. University of Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Art & Design

#26 in the World

Enrollment: 63,602
Founded: 1850

2. University of Queensland

Australia | St Lucia

For Art & Design

#30 in the World

Enrollment: 48,771
Founded: 1909

3. University of Melbourne

Australia | Melbourne

For Art & Design

#31 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Enrollment: 77,162
Founded: 1853

4. University of New South Wales

Australia | Sydney

For Art & Design

#55 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 60%
Enrollment: 63,864
Founded: 1949

5. Australian National University

Australia | Canberra

For Art & Design

#62 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Founded: 1946

6. Monash University

Australia | Clayton

For Art & Design

#67 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 73%
Enrollment: 78,000
Founded: 1958

7. Macquarie University

Australia | Sydney

For Art & Design

#141 in the World

Enrollment: 38,747
Founded: 1964

8. Queensland University of Technology

Australia | Brisbane

For Art & Design

#145 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Founded: 1989

9. University of Western Australia

Australia | Crawley

For Art & Design

#10 in Oceania

#159 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1911

10. Griffith University

Australia | Brisbane

For Art & Design

#11 in Oceania

#165 in the World

Founded: 1971

11. James Cook University

Australia | Townsville

For Art & Design

#12 in Oceania

#175 in the World

Founded: 1970

12. Deakin University

Australia | Geelong

For Art & Design

#13 in Oceania

#178 in the World

Enrollment: 34,616
Founded: 1974

13. University of Adelaide

Australia | Adelaide

For Art & Design

#14 in Oceania

#190 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1874

14. University of Technology Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Art & Design

#15 in Oceania

#191 in the World

Founded: 1965

15. La Trobe University

Australia | Melbourne

For Art & Design

#16 in Oceania

#209 in the World

Enrollment: 7,500
Founded: 1964

16. University of Wollongong

Australia | Wollongong

For Art & Design

#17 in Oceania

#218 in the World

Enrollment: 31,313
Founded: 1975

17. RMIT University

Australia | Melbourne

For Art & Design

#19 in Oceania

#238 in the World

Founded: 1887

18. Curtin University

Australia | Perth

For Art & Design

#21 in Oceania

#272 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 56%
Enrollment: 58,607
Founded: 1966

19. University of Newcastle

Australia | Callaghan

For Art & Design

#22 in Oceania

#303 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 80%
Founded: 1965

20. Western Sydney University

Australia | Penrith

For Art & Design

#23 in Oceania

#315 in the World

Enrollment: 37,426
Founded: 1989

21. University of South Australia

Australia | Adelaide

For Art & Design

#24 in Oceania

#316 in the World

Founded: 1991

22. Flinders University

Australia | Adelaide

For Art & Design

#25 in Oceania

#326 in the World

Founded: 1966

23. University of Tasmania

Australia | Hobart

For Art & Design

#28 in Oceania

#381 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 72%
Enrollment: 33,879
Founded: 1890

24. Swinburne University of Technology

Australia | Hawthorn

For Art & Design

#30 in Oceania

#479 in the World

Founded: 1908

25. Charles Sturt University

Australia | Bathurst

For Art & Design

#31 in Oceania

#526 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Founded: 1989

26. University of Canberra

Australia | Canberra

For Art & Design

#32 in Oceania

#564 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 78%
Enrollment: 17,576
Founded: 1967

27. Edith Cowan University

Australia | Joondalup

For Art & Design

#34 in Oceania

#611 in the World

Founded: 1991

28. Murdoch University

Australia | Murdoch

For Art & Design

#35 in Oceania

#624 in the World

Enrollment: 22,475
Founded: 1975

29. Victoria University

Australia | Melbourne

For Art & Design

#36 in Oceania

#665 in the World

Founded: 1990

30. Australian Catholic University

Australia | North Sydney

For Art & Design

#37 in Oceania

#685 in the World

Founded: 1991

31. University of Southern Queensland

Australia | Toowoomba

For Art & Design

#38 in Oceania

#710 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1967

32. Southern Cross University

Australia | Lismore

For Art & Design

#39 in Oceania

#767 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1994

33. University of New England, Australia

Australia | Armidale

For Art & Design

#40 in Oceania

#770 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1938

34. Central Queensland University

Australia | North Rockhampton

For Art & Design

#41 in Oceania

#909 in the World

Founded: 1967

35. University of the Sunshine Coast

Australia | Sippy Downs

For Art & Design

#42 in Oceania

#1141 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 82%
Founded: 1994

36. Federation University Australia

Australia | Ballarat

For Art & Design

#43 in Oceania

#1249 in the World

Founded: 1870

37. Bond University

Australia | Gold Coast

For Art & Design

#44 in Oceania

#1293 in the World

Founded: 1987

38. Charles Darwin University

Australia | Darwin

For Art & Design

#46 in Oceania

#1414 in the World

Founded: 1989

39. University of Notre Dame Australia

Australia | Fremantle

For Art & Design

#47 in Oceania

#1937 in the World

Enrollment: 11,579
Founded: 1989

The best cities to study Art & Design in Australia based on the number of universities and their ranks are Sydney, St Lucia, Melbourne, and Canberra.