Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Falling enrolments and funding cuts force Australian universities to take stock

The Australian Universities Accord offers a roadmap for reform, but there are major challenges ahead.
By
  1. Jackson Ryan

    1. Jackson Ryan is a freelance science journalist in Sydney, Australia.

The release of the 2025 Times Higher Education global rankings in October painted a bleak picture of the Australian university sector. Many of the country’s leading universities saw their scores plunge in metrics related to reputation, international collaboration and ability to attract international talent. In the Nature Index 2024 Research Leaders, released in June, it was a similar story: Australia dropped out of the top 10 countries for authorship in high-quality natural- and health-science journals for the first time since 2018.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03638-1

This article is part of Nature Index 2024 Australia, an editorially independent supplement. Advertisers have no influence over the content. For more information about Nature Index, see the homepage.

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 29 November 2024: An earlier version of this story misstated Kelly Kirkland’s role at the University of Queensland.

References

  1. Australian Universities Accord Review Panel. Australian Universities Accord: Final Report (Department of Education, 2024).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links