A continent and a country

Australia

The sixth largest country on earth, and one of the least densely populated. The twelfth largest economy in the world, with fewer than thirty million people. Home to nine of the hundred best universities in the world, and the third most popular destination for international students.

6 + 2States & territories

42Public and private universities

9Universities in the world top 100

3rdMost popular study destination

The Sea Cliff Bridge on the coast road south of Sydney.

Size and time zones

A continent, a country and an island, with three different time zones.

Land and people

A continent of 7.69 million km², where most people live near the coast.

Land, people, coastline and heritage in numbers

Land area

7,690,000 km²

Sixth largest country in the world, and the only one that is also a continent. Perth to Sydney is further than London to Moscow.

People

28.6 million

Under four people per square kilometre, and 86 per cent of them live within fifty kilometres of the coast.

The Twelve Apostles standing off the Great Ocean Road.

Coastline

36,000 km

Continuous culture

65,000 years

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold the oldest continuous living culture on earth.

Surf breaking on a wide white-sand beach, seen from the air.

Beaches

10,685

Mapped by Geoscience Australia. Visiting one a day would take twenty-nine years.

World Heritage sites

Including the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru-Kata Tjuta, the Sydney Opera House and eighteen others.

Six states, two territories

Every one of them has a capital, and every capital has a university.

Choose a city on the map to learn more

New South Wales

Sydney

The biggest city and the biggest graduate job market, wrapped around a harbour and thirty-odd beaches.

Universities in NSW: 13

Four per cent of global research output, from 0.3 per cent of the world population.

Wi‑Fi was an accidental discovery, thanks to Australian astronomers chasing black holes.

CSIRO · Radiophysics

Wi‑Fi

Radio astronomers chasing signals from space wrote the maths for untangling a signal bouncing around a room. Their patent became the fast wireless LAN standard.

In billions of devices

The Quadrangle at the University of Sydney, seen from above. — The quadrangle, University of Sydney, founded 1850

Universities & research

Forty-two universities. Nine in the global top hundred.

Thirty-six public and six private universities.

QS rankingUniversityState

19UNSW SydneyNSW
22University of MelbourneVIC
28University of SydneyNSW
29Australian National UniversityACT
31Monash UniversityVIC
40University of QueenslandQLD
77University of Western AustraliaWA
79Adelaide UniversitySA
87University of Technology SydneyNSW

QS World University Rankings 2027

The law

ESOS Act. Every provider that teaches an international student must be registered on CRICOS. Universities are regulated by TEQSA and vocational colleges by ASQA, and both check courses against national standards.

The money

Tuition Protection Service. If a provider fails to deliver, this scheme, backed by the government, places the student at a different university or refunds the fees.

The qualification

Australian Qualifications Framework. One national framework, and qualifications recognised globally.

The record

16 Nobel laureates. Among them the man who made penicillin usable, and the team that found the universe is accelerating.

Teaching & support

Many degrees are built around the jobyou want afterwards.

Many Australian degrees build work into the course itself: placements, internships, industry projects and group work with real clients. You can graduate with experience and contacts as well as a qualification.

Work experience

Placements and internships are part of many courses, and some require them before you can graduate.

Support on campus

Every university has staff whose job is supporting international students, from orientation through to graduation, alongside careers, health and counselling services.

If something goes wrong

If you can’t resolve a complaint with your university or college, an independent ombudsman will look at it, free of charge.

At work

If you work part-time while you study, you have the same workplace rights as any Australian worker, including the minimum wage. The Fair Work Ombudsman enforces them.

Culture & lifestyle

One in three people were born outside Australia.

300+ languages spoken at home

After English, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese and Cantonese are among the most common languages spoken at home. People living in Australia were born in more than 190 countries, so wherever you come from, you can find your community. For Muslim students, halal food is easy to find, most campuses have prayer rooms, and every capital city has mosques.

An ocean rock pool cut into the cliffs on the New South Wales coast.

Ocean pools · NSW

Brighton Beach · Melbourne

A lighthouse at dusk on the Victorian coast.

Split Point · VIC

A boardwalk running above a wide surf beach.

Coast walks · everywhere

Rundle Mall · Adelaide

Work rights48 hrs

Per fortnight during session, and unrestricted work rights during the breaks. Australia has one of the highest minimum wages in the world.

Health coverOSHC

Health insurance is mandatory, so you are covered from the day you land to the day your visa ends.

SafetyTop 20

On the Global Peace Index (20th in 2026), with low violent crime and strict firearms law.

Graduate outcomesVaries

Options after graduation vary by course and visa. We go through yours on the call.

Economy & industry

The twelfth largest economy, and international education is its largest services export.

Australian companies that went global

SoftwareAtlassian

Jira and Confluence, founded in Sydney, used by most of the Fortune 500.

Design softwareCanva

Started in Perth, headquartered in Sydney, past 200 million users worldwide.

BiotechnologyCSL

Based in Melbourne, among the largest plasma and vaccine companies in the world.

Medical devicesCochlear

Born out of University of Melbourne research, now selling into 180 countries.

FinanceMacquarie Group

The largest infrastructure asset manager in the world, in more than thirty markets.

ConsumerAesop

Melbourne skincare, sold to L’Oréal in 2023 for around US$2.5 billion.

Sources: QS World University Rankings 2027 · UNESCO World Heritage List · Global Peace Index 2026 · Department of Home Affairs

Sunset over a beach on the New South Wales coast.

Free discovery call

Australia is the right answerfor some students.

Not for all of them. The first conversation is thirty minutes and costs nothing, and if Australia isn’t right for you, I’ll tell you.

Book a discovery call → See the student pathway