39 Best universities for Liberal Arts & Social Sciences 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 Liberal Arts & Social Sciences. A graph of 46.1M citations received by 1.57M 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.

1. University of Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#1 in Oceania

#28 in the World

Enrollment: 63,602
Founded: 1850

2. University of Melbourne

Australia | Melbourne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#2 in Oceania

#29 in the World

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

3. University of Queensland

Australia | St Lucia

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#3 in Oceania

#48 in the World

Enrollment: 48,771
Founded: 1909

4. University of New South Wales

Australia | Sydney

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#4 in Oceania

#56 in the World

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

5. Australian National University

Australia | Canberra

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#5 in Oceania

#58 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Founded: 1946

6. Monash University

Australia | Clayton

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#6 in Oceania

#65 in the World

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

7. University of Western Australia

Australia | Crawley

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#8 in Oceania

#176 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1911

8. Griffith University

Australia | Brisbane

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#9 in Oceania

#185 in the World

Founded: 1971

9. University of Adelaide

Australia | Adelaide

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#10 in Oceania

#194 in the World

Enrollment: 25,000
Founded: 1874

10. Macquarie University

Australia | Sydney

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#11 in Oceania

#204 in the World

Enrollment: 38,747
Founded: 1964

11. Queensland University of Technology

Australia | Brisbane

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#12 in Oceania

#213 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Founded: 1989

12. Deakin University

Australia | Geelong

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#13 in Oceania

#217 in the World

Enrollment: 34,616
Founded: 1974

13. La Trobe University

Australia | Melbourne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#15 in Oceania

#260 in the World

Enrollment: 7,500
Founded: 1964

14. University of Technology Sydney

Australia | Sydney

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#16 in Oceania

#262 in the World

Founded: 1965

15. Curtin University

Australia | Perth

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#18 in Oceania

#320 in the World

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

16. University of Wollongong

Australia | Wollongong

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#19 in Oceania

#331 in the World

Enrollment: 31,313
Founded: 1975

17. University of Newcastle

Australia | Callaghan

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#20 in Oceania

#362 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 80%
Founded: 1965

18. RMIT University

Australia | Melbourne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#21 in Oceania

#388 in the World

Founded: 1887

19. Flinders University

Australia | Adelaide

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#22 in Oceania

#406 in the World

Founded: 1966

20. University of South Australia

Australia | Adelaide

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#23 in Oceania

#417 in the World

Founded: 1991

21. Western Sydney University

Australia | Penrith

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#24 in Oceania

#418 in the World

Enrollment: 37,426
Founded: 1989

22. University of Tasmania

Australia | Hobart

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#25 in Oceania

#440 in the World

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

23. James Cook University

Australia | Townsville

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#28 in Oceania

#518 in the World

Founded: 1970

24. University of Canberra

Australia | Canberra

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#30 in Oceania

#589 in the World

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

25. Swinburne University of Technology

Australia | Hawthorn

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#31 in Oceania

#659 in the World

Founded: 1908

26. Murdoch University

Australia | Murdoch

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#33 in Oceania

#721 in the World

Enrollment: 22,475
Founded: 1975

27. Charles Sturt University

Australia | Bathurst

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#34 in Oceania

#725 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Founded: 1989

28. University of New England, Australia

Australia | Armidale

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#35 in Oceania

#752 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1938

29. Edith Cowan University

Australia | Joondalup

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#36 in Oceania

#790 in the World

Founded: 1991

30. Australian Catholic University

Australia | North Sydney

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#37 in Oceania

#793 in the World

Founded: 1991

31. Victoria University

Australia | Melbourne

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#38 in Oceania

#883 in the World

Founded: 1990

32. University of Southern Queensland

Australia | Toowoomba

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#39 in Oceania

#943 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1967

33. Central Queensland University

Australia | North Rockhampton

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#40 in Oceania

#1046 in the World

Founded: 1967

34. Bond University

Australia | Gold Coast

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#41 in Oceania

#1146 in the World

Founded: 1987

35. Southern Cross University

Australia | Lismore

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#42 in Oceania

#1189 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 70%
Founded: 1994

36. Charles Darwin University

Australia | Darwin

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#43 in Oceania

#1291 in the World

Founded: 1989

37. University of the Sunshine Coast

Australia | Sippy Downs

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#44 in Oceania

#1334 in the World

Acceptance Rate: 82%
Founded: 1994

38. Federation University Australia

Australia | Ballarat

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#45 in Oceania

#1403 in the World

Founded: 1870

39. University of Notre Dame Australia

Australia | Fremantle

For Liberal Arts & Social Sciences

#47 in Oceania

#1989 in the World

Enrollment: 11,579
Founded: 1989

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