The Australian National University (ANU) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

and member of the

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, formed by incorporating Russia into the G7. The G8 became the G7 again after Russia was expelled in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The forum ...

, located in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, the capital of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and institutes. Established in 1946, ANU is the only university to have been created by the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...

. It traces its origins to Canberra University College, which was established in 1929 and was integrated into ANU in 1960. ANU enrols 13,329 undergraduate and 11,021 postgraduate students and employs 4,517 staff. The university's endowment stood at A$1.8 billion as of 2018. ANU counts six

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

and 49

Rhodes scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

among its faculty and alumni. The university has educated the incumbent Governor-General of Australia, two former

prime ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

, and more than a dozen current heads of

government departments of Australia A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a mea ...

. The latest releases of ANU's scholarly publications are held through

ANU Press ANU Press (or Australian National University Press; originally ANU E Press) is a new university press (NUP) that publishes open-access books, textbooks and journals. It was established in 2004 to explore and enable new modes of scholarly publis ...

online.

History

Post-war origins

Calls for the establishment of a

national university A national university is mainly a university created or managed by a government, but which may also at the same time operate autonomously without direct control by the state. In the United States, the term "national university" connotes the highe ...

in Australia began as early as 1900. After the location of the nation's capital,

, was determined in 1908, land was set aside for the ANU at the foot of Black Mountain in the city designs by

Walter Burley Griffin Walter Burley Griffin (November 24, 1876February 11, 1937) was an American architect and landscape architect. He designed Canberra, Australia's capital city, the New South Wales towns of Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith and Leeton, New So ...

. Establishment of the university was disrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

but resumed with the creation of the Department of Post-War Reconstruction in 1942, ultimately leading to the passage of the ''Australian National University Act 1946'' by the

Chifley government The Chifley government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Ben Chifley. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1945 to 1949. Background A week after Labor ...

on 1 August 1946. Homopolar anu-MJC

A group of eminent Australian scholars returned from overseas to join the university, including Sir

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey, (; 24 September 1898 – 21 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his ro ...

(co-developer of medicinal

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...

), Sir

Mark Oliphant Sir Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant, (8 October 1901 – 14 July 2000) was an Australian physicist and humanitarian who played an important role in the first experimental demonstration of nuclear fusion and in the development of nuclear weapon ...

(a nuclear physicist who worked on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

), and Sir Keith Hancock (the Chichele Professor of Economic History at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

). The group also included a New Zealander, Sir

Raymond Firth Sir Raymond William Firth (25 March 1901 – 22 February 2002) was an ethnologist from New Zealand. As a result of Firth's ethnographic work, actual behaviour of societies (social organization) is separated from the idealized rules of behavio ...

(a professor of anthropology at LSE), who had earlier worked in Australia for some years. Economist Sir Douglas Copland was appointed as ANU's first Vice-Chancellor and former Prime Minister

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician, statesman and businessman who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. He held office as ...

served as the first Chancellor. ANU was originally organised into four centres—the Research Schools of Physical Sciences, Social Sciences and Pacific Studies and the John Curtin School of Medical Research. The first residents' hall, University House, was opened in 1954 for faculty members and postgraduate students. Mount Stromlo Observatory, established by the federal government in 1924, became part of ANU in 1957. The first locations of the ANU Library, the Menzies and Chifley buildings, opened in 1963. The Australian Forestry School, located in Canberra since 1927, was amalgamated by ANU in 1965.

Canberra University College

Canberra University College (CUC) was the first institution of higher education in the national capital, having been established in 1929 and enrolling its first undergraduate pupils in 1930. Its founding was led by Sir Robert Garran, one of the drafters of the

Australian Constitution The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

and the first Solicitor-General of Australia. CUC was affiliated with the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and its degrees were granted by that university. Academic leaders at CUC included historian Manning Clark, political scientist Finlay Crisp, poet A. D. Hope and economist Heinz Arndt. In 1960, CUC was integrated into ANU as the School of General Studies, initially with faculties in arts, economics, law and science. Faculties in

Oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...

and engineering were introduced later. Bruce Hall, the first residential college for undergraduates, opened in 1961. ANU School of Art

Modern era

The Canberra School of Music and the Canberra School of Art combined in 1988 to form the Canberra Institute of the Arts, and amalgamated with the university as the ANU Institute of the Arts in 1992. ANU established its

Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...

in 2002, after obtaining federal government approval in 2000. On 18 January 2003, the Canberra bushfires largely destroyed the Mount Stromlo Observatory. ANU astronomers now conduct research from the

Siding Spring Observatory Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a coll ...

, which contains 10 telescopes including the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In February 2013, financial entrepreneur and ANU graduate

Graham Tuckwell Graham Tuckwell is an Australian businessman and philanthropist.

made the largest university donation in Australian history by giving $50 million to fund an undergraduate scholarship program at ANU. ANU is well known for its history of

student activism Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

and, in recent years, its fossil fuel divestment campaign, which is one of the longest-running and most successful in the country. The decision of the ANU Council to divest from two fossil fuel companies in 2014 was criticised by ministers in the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

, but defended by Vice Chancellor Ian Young, who noted: ANU holds investments in major fossil fuel companies. A survey conducted by the

Australian Human Rights Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of the Commonwealth of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body fu ...

in 2017 found that the ANU had the second-highest incidence of sexual assault and sexual harassment. 3.5 per cent of respondents from the ANU reported being sexually assaulted in 2016. Vice Chancellor Brian Schmidt apologised to victims of sexual assault and harassment. The ANU had funding and staff cuts in the School of Music in 2011–15 and in the School of Culture, History and Language in 2016.Emma Macdonald
ANU Asian language budget cuts see top academics placed on fixed-term contracts
, ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 29 March 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2017 However, there is a range of global (governmental) endowments available for Arts and Social Sciences, designated only for ANU. Some courses are now delivered online. ANU has exchange agreements in place for its students with many foreign universities, most notably in the Asia-Pacific region, including the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

, the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

, the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

and

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

. In other regions, notable universities includ
Université Paris Sciences et Lettres
the

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in North America and

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

ETH Zürich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ra ...

Bocconi University Bocconi University or Università Bocconi (formally known in Italian language, Italian as ''Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi'' – Luigi Bocconi Commercial University) is a private university in Milan, Italy. The university is consistently ...

, the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

in Europe. In 2017, Chinese hackers infiltrated the computers of Australian National University, potentially compromising national security research conducted at the university.

Campuses and buildings

The main campus of ANU extends across the

suburb of Acton, which consists of of mostly parkland with university buildings landscaped within. ANU is roughly bisected by Sullivans Creek, part of the

Murray–Darling basin The Murray–Darling Basin is a large geographical area in the interior of southeastern Australia, encompassing the drainage basin of the tributaries of the Murray River, Australia's longest river, and the Darling River, a right tributary of ...

, and is bordered by the native bushland of Black Mountain,

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was created in 1963 by the damming of the Molonglo River, which formerly ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle. The lake is na ...

, the suburb of

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

and the Canberra

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

. Many university sites are of historical significance dating from the establishment of the national capital, with over 40 buildings recognised by the Commonwealth Heritage List and several others on local lists. With over 10,000 trees on its campus, ANU won an International Sustainable Campus Network Award in 2009 and was ranked the 2nd greenest university campus in Australia in 2011. Four of Australia's five

learned societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

are based at ANU—the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

, the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...

, the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Aus ...

and the Australian Academy of Law. The Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science and the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

are also located at ANU, while the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...

and

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

are situated next to the campus. ANU occupies additional locations including Mount Stromlo Observatory on the outskirts of Canberra,

near

Coonabarabran Coonabarabran () is a town in Warrumbungle Shire that sits on the divide between the Central West and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 2,387, Material was copied from th ...

, a campus at Kioloa on the South Coast of New South Wales and a research unit in Darwin.

Drill Hall Gallery

The Drill Hall Gallery is housed a drill hall dating from the 1940s, for use in training soldiers for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and as base for 3rd Battalion, Werriwa Regiment. The interior was remodelled to create an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

in 1984, and in 2004 the building was

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

. Temporary exhibitions of the national collection were held in the hall while the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

was being built. ANU took over the hall in 1992 to exhibit its own collection of artworks, and also as a venue for temporary exhibitions. There are four separate exhibition spaces, which provide the venues not only for exhibitions developed by or in collaboration with the university, but also to accompany major conferences and public events. The venue hosts both national and international exhibitions. Sidney Nolan's panorama, ''Riverbend'', which comprises nine panels, ís on permanent display at the Drill Hall Gallery.

Governance and structure

University Council

ANU is governed by a 15-member Council, whose members include the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

. Gareth Evans, a former Foreign Minister of Australia, was ANU Chancellor from 2010 to December 2019 and

Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967) is an American Australian astrophysics, astrophysicist at the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was the Vice-Chancellor o ...

, an astrophysicist and Nobel Laureate, served as Vice-Chancellor from 1 January 2016 to 1 January 2024. Evans was succeeded as Chancellor by a fellow former Foreign Minister,

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...

, in January 2020. Schmidt was succeeded as Vice-Chancellor by cultural anthropologist and Distinguished Professor Genevieve Bell in January 2024.

Constituent colleges

ANU was reorganised in 2006 to create seven Colleges, each of which leads both teaching and research. Additional restructuring occurred in 2017, resulting in changes to the names and schools within the Colleges.

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

The ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences is divided into the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) and Research School of Humanities and the Arts (RSHA). Within RSSS there are schools and centres dedicated to

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Demography Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examine ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

and

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Studies, and

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration. Some ...

, as well as the Australian National Centre for Latin and American Studies, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, and the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods. RSHA contains schools of

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

;

Art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

Design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

; and

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, Languages and Linguistics, the latter of which include departments focusing on Linguistics & Applied Linguistics; English, Screen, Drama & Gender Studies; Languages & Cultures, and Classical Studies. RSHA also houses the ANU School of Music. In 2017, ANU ranked 6th in the world for politics, 8th in the world for Social Policy and Administration and 11th in the world for development studies. The college is also home to the Australian Studies Institute. The college's School of Philosophy houses the ANU Centre for Consciousness, ANU Centre for Philosophy of the Sciences, and ANU Centre for Moral, Social and Political Theory, an organisation whose purpose is to "become a world-leading forum for exposition and analysis of the evolution, structure, and implications of our moral, social and political life." Its president is Nicholas Southwood and key people include Seth Lazar, Geoff Brennan, Bob Goodin, Frank Jackson, Philip Pettit and Michael Smith. Southern wing of the JG Crawford Building August 2013

Southern wing of the JG Crawford Building August 2013

Asia and the Pacific

The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific is a specialist centre of Asian and Pacific studies and languages, among the largest collections of experts in these fields of any university in the English-speaking world. The college is home to four academic schools: the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, a research intensive public policy school; the School of Culture, History and Language, for studies of Asia-Pacific people and languages; the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, covering politics and international affairs of Asia and the Pacific; and the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet, formerly the Regulatory Institutions Network), study of regulation and governance. The college also houses the Australian Centre on China in the World, the

Strategic and Defence Studies Centre The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) is a university-based institute that is situated in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. It is Australia's oldest-established centre for the study of ...

, and the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific, Australia. It has dedicated regional institutes for China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the Pacific, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The college hosts a series annual and biannual updates, on various regions in the Asia-Pacific. The Crawford School of Public Policy houses the Asia Pacific Arndt-Cohen Department of Economics, the Asia Pacific Network for Environmental Governance, the Australia-Japan Research Centre, The Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, the Centre for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research, the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, the ANU National Security College, the

East Asia Forum East Asia Forum (EAF) is an English-language international policy forum directed by Peter Drysdale and based at the Australian National University's Crawford School of Public Policy. It was launched in 2006 by then Australian Treasurer Peter ...

publication and a number of other centres. The Crawford School of Public Policy also hosts offices and programs for the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. Many high performing Year in Asia program students gain the opportunity to travel to an Asian country of their choosing to study for one year specializing in one Asian language. The college also has affiliation with

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

's Pan Asia Institute.

Business and Economics

ANU campus Big Dish Paraboloidal CSP prototype

The ANU College of Business and Economics comprises four schools, which carry research and teaching in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

, actuarial studies,

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

: * Research School of Management * Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics * Research School of Accounting * Research School of Economics Dedicated research centres within these schools include the Social Policy Evaluation, Analysis and Research Centre; the Australian National Centre for Audit and Assurance Research; the ANU Centre for Economic History; the National Centre for Information Systems Research; and the ANU Centre for Economic Policy Research. The college is professionally accredited with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia,

CPA Australia CPA Australia ("Certified Practising Accountant") is a professional accounting body in Australia, originally founded as the "Incorporated Institute of Accountants" in 1886. As of 31 December 2020, it has 168,736 members in 150 countries and regio ...

, the

Australian Computer Society The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is an association for information and communications technology professionals with 40,000+ members Australia-wide. According to its Constitution, its objectives are "to advance professional excellence in ...

, the Actuaries Institute Australia, the

Institute of Public Accountants The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) is one of the three legally recognised professional association, professional bodies for accountants in Australia. The IPA represents more than 25,000 voting members working in industry, commerce, gove ...

, the

Association of International Accountants The Association of International Accountants (AIA) is a professional accountancy body. It was founded in the United Kingdom, UK in 1928 and since that date has promoted the concept of ‘international accounting’ to create a global network of ac ...

, the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and the Statistical Society of Australia Inc. It also has membership of the

World Wide Web Consortium The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working together in ...

(W3C).

Systems and Society

The ANU College of Systems and Society brings together critical capabilities in understanding the modern interfaces between systems, technology, processes, the physical world, and the social world. The college comprises six academic units: the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Mathematical Sciences Institute, School of Computing, School of Cybernetics, and School of Engineering. ANU is home to the National Computational Infrastructure National Facility and was a co-founder of

NICTA NICTA (formerly named National ICT Australia Ltd) was Australia's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence and is now known as CSIRO's Data61. The term "Centre of Excellence" is common marketing terminology ...

, the chief

information and communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

research centre in Australia. Research areas of expertise in the college include: Computing Foundations, Computational Science, Intelligent Systems, Data Science and Analytics, Software Innovation Institute, Cybernetics Education, Cybernetics Futures, Cybernetics Projects, Aerospace Engineering, Energy Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Information and Signals Processing, Mechatronics, Biodiversity and Conservation, Climate and Energy, Food soil water and agriculture, Forests and Fire, Indigenous people and the environment, Integrative methods and application, Urban systems and sustainability, Algebra and Topology, Analysis and Geometry, Applied and Nonlinear Analysis, Bioinformation Science, Computational Mathematics, Fusion plasma theory and modelling, Mathematical Physics, Stochastic analysis and risk modelling, Theoretical astrophysics, Public engagement and informal science, Public Policy and Science Advice, Responsible innovation and emerging technologies, Science media and culture, Theories and frameworks in science communication, and Topics in science communication. JCMSR

Law, Governance and Policy

The ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy comprises the ANU Law School and ANU School of Legal Practice. The college covers legal research and teaching, with centres dedicated to

commercial law Commercial law (or business law), which is also known by other names such as mercantile law or trade law depending on jurisdiction; is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of Legal person, persons and organizations ...

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

and

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

. In addition to numerous research programs, the college offers the professional LL.B. and J.D. degrees. It is the 7th oldest of Australia's 36

law schools A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

and was ranked 2nd among Australian and 12th among world law schools by the 2018 QS Rankings. Students are given the chance to spend three weeks in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

concerning the institutional practice of International Law.

Science and Medicine

The ANU College of Science and Medicine comprises the Research Schools of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

. Under the direction of

, nuclear physics was one of the university's most notable early research priorities, leading to the construction of a 500 megajoule

homopolar generator A homopolar generator is a DC electrical generator comprising an electrically conductive disc or cylinder rotating in a plane perpendicular to a uniform static magnetic field. A potential difference is created between the center of the disc and ...

and a 7.7 megaelectronvolts

cyclotron A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator invented by Ernest Lawrence in 1929–1930 at the University of California, Berkeley, and patented in 1932. Lawrence, Ernest O. ''Method and apparatus for the acceleration of ions'', filed: Januar ...

in the 1950s. These devices were to be used as part of a 10.6 gigaelectronvolt

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...

particle accelerator that was never completed, however they remained in use for other research purposes. ANU has been home to eight

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...

s over the years and operates the 14UD and LINAS accelerators.

(astrophysicist at Mount Stromlo Observatory) received the 2011

Nobel Prize for Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prize, Nobel Prizes establi ...

for his work on the accelerating expansion of the universe. The ANU College of Science & Medicine encompasses the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR), ANU Medical School, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, and Research School of Psychology. JCSMR was established in 1948 as a result of the vision of Nobel laureate

. Three further Nobel Prizes have been won as a result of research at JCSMR—in 1963 by John Eccles and in 1996 by Peter Doherty and Rolf M. Zinkernagel.

Finances and endowment

At the end of 2018, ANU recorded an endowment of A$1.8 billion.

Academic profile

ANU is a member of the

Association of Pacific Rim Universities The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is a consortium of 62 universities in 18 economies of the Pacific Rim. Formed in 1997,

, the

International Alliance of Research Universities The International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) was launched on 14 January 2006 as a co-operative network of 10 leading, international research-intensive universities who share similar visions for higher education, in particular the edu ...

UNESCO Chairs The UNESCO Chairs program was conceived as a way to advance research, training and programme development in higher education by building university networks and encouraging inter-university cooperation through transfer of knowledge across borders. ...

, U7 Alliance, Winter Institute. and Global Scholars Program. ANU participates in the US Financial Direct Loan program. The RG Menzies Scholarship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

is awarded annually to at least one talented Australian who has gained admission to a Harvard graduate school. ANU and

are the only two Australian partner universities of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

's Fox Fellowship program. ANU has exchange partnership with

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, and ANU has a research partnership with

Libraries and archives

The library of ANU originated in 1948 with the appointment of the first librarian, Arthur McDonald. The library holds over 2.5 million physical volumes distributed across six branches—the Chifley, Menzies, Hancock, Art & Music, and Law Libraries and the external Print Repository. Chifley and Hancock library are both accessible for ANU staff and students 24 hours a day.

Tuition, loans and financial aid

For international students starting in 2025, tuition fees range from to per academic year for award programs lasting at least one year. Domestic students may be offered a federally-subsidised Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) which substantially decreases the student contribution amount billed to the student. The maximum student contribution amount limits that can be applied to CSP students are dependent on the field of study. Since 2021, Commonwealth Supported Places have also been limited to 7 years of equivalent full-time study load (EFTSL), calculated in the form of Student Learning Entitlement (SLE). Students may accrue additional SLE under some circumstances (e.g. starting a ''separate'' one-year honours program) or every 10 years. Domestic students are also able to access the HECS-HELP student loans scheme offered by the federal government. These are indexed to the

Consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

or Wage Price Index, whichever is lower, and repayments are voluntary unless the recipient passes an income threshold. The university also offers several

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s, which come in the form of

bursaries A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

or tuition fee remission.

Academic reputation

In the 2024 ''Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities'', which measures aggregate performance across the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, the university attained a position of #57 (6th nationally). ; National publications In the ''Australian Financial Review'' Best Universities Ranking 2024, the university was ranked No. 2 amongst Australian universities. ; Global publications In the 2025 ''

Quacquarelli Symonds Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) is a higher education analyst and a for-profit services provider headquartered in London with offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. History The company was founded by Nunzio Quacquarelli in 1990 to provide informati ...

World University Rankings College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

(published 2024), the university attained a position of #30 (4th nationally). In the ''Times Higher Education'' World University Rankings 2025 (published 2024), the university attained a tied position of #73 (4th nationally). In the 2024 ''

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

'', the university attained a position of #101–150 (6th nationally). In the 2024–2025 ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global Universities, the university attained a position of #85 (6th nationally). In the '' CWTS Leiden Ranking'' 2024, the university attained a position of #238 (10th nationally).

Student outcomes

The Australian Government's QILT conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment. These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts. In the 2023 Employer Satisfaction Survey, graduates of the university had an overall employer satisfaction rate of 84.2%. In the 2023 Graduate Outcomes Survey, graduates of the university had a full-time employment rate of 80.7% for undergraduates and 88.5% for postgraduates. The initial full-time salary was for undergraduates and for postgraduates. In the 2023 Student Experience Survey, undergraduates at the university rated the quality of their entire educational experience at 79.4% meanwhile postgraduates rated their overall education experience at 72.5%.

Student life

Student associations

Australian National University Students' Association (ANUSA) is the students' union of the Australian National University and acts as a representative body for the undergraduate, postgraduate and research students. The Australian National University Union is another student association that manages catering, retail outlets and other amenities on behalf of all students.

Student media

''Woroni''

''Woroni'' is a student publication at Australian National University. It was first published on 23 May 1947 under the title ''Student Notes: Canberra University College Students Association''. On 14 February 1950, the name was changed to ''Woroni,'' which is derived from an Indigenous Australian word meaning "mouthpiece". ''Woroni'' is published bi-monthly in full colour magazine format, and features local news and opinion. The magazine was originally published by the school's student association. An independent student organization called ANU Student Media was incorporated in October 2010, and has operated ''Woroni'' ever since. In 2012, an online radio station called Woroni Radio was launched, and a video production arm called Woroni TV was started in 2017. This newspaper has been digitised as part of the

Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

of the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. As of January 2015, issues dating from 1950 to 2007 are available via

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text documen ...

. Digital versions of works published since 2011 are uploaded and available in colour on electronic publishing platform

issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. The company's software converts PDFs into customizable digital publications that can be shared via links ...

''ANU Observer''

''ANU Observer'' is another of the Australian National University's student news publications. Founded in 2017, ''ANU'' ''Observer'' is an online news site that covers breaking campus news, student life, student politics, arts and culture, sports, university policy and more. ''ANU Observer'' is an ANU student association, meaning all students are members by default (and can attend and vote at General Meetings.) Observer also produces a weekly podcast called ''Our Experts Have Observed'', which can be accessed via Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Residential halls and colleges

Eleven on-campus residential halls are affiliated with ANU— Bruce Hall, Burgmann College, Burton & Garran Hall, Fenner Hall, John XXIII College, Ursula Hall, Wamburun Hall, Wright Hall, Yukeembruk Village, Graduate House and Toad Hall. Together these residence accommodate for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Four UniLodge residences are also available to ANU students, situated just off campus—Davey Lodge, Kinloch Lodge, Warrumbul Lodge and Lena Karmel Lodge. In 2010, the non-residential Griffin Hall was established for students living off-campus. Another off-campus student accommodation was launched by UniGardens Pty, University Gardens located in

Belconnen Belconnen () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. As at the , the ...

. In 2014, 2019 and 2020 there were major protests organised by student leaders across all of the ANU's halls of residence against steep rent hikes, neglect of pastoral care support, and repeated failures to address issues relating to sexual assault and sexual harassment. Though supported by a majority of students living on residence, the ANU's response to past protests has been mixed, with many recommendations and requests for student consultations ignored. The outcome of the 2020 protests revolve around demands for stronger SASH policy, accountability surrounding tariff rises, and commitments to adequate pastoral care; the outcome of these protests is as yet unknown. Protests have been held since on the issue, with one high-profile one occurring on the same day as the annual Open Day in 2024. File:Kinloch Lodge January 2013.jpg, Kinloch Lodge File:Lena Carmal Lodge June 2013.jpeg, Lena Karmel Lodge File:UniLodge ANU - Davey Lodge in Civic.jpg, Davey Lodge File:AUS Canberra, Central, Australian National University 044.jpg, Wright Hall

Notable people

Notable alumni

ANU alumni are often visible in government.

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

and

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

, former Australian

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

, attended the university, as did senior politicians

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

Barry O'Farrell Barry Robert O'Farrell (born 24 May 1959) is an Australian former politician who was Australia's List of Australian High Commissioners to India, High Commissioner to India and non-resident Ambassador to Bhutan from February 2020 to 30 June 202 ...

, Nick Minchin, Kim Beazley Sr,

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

, Craig Emerson,

Stephen Conroy Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

, Gary Gray, Warren Snowdon, Joe Ludwig and Catherine King and Michael Keenan. ANU has produced 30 current Australian

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

s, and more than a dozen current heads of

Australian Public Service The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the G ...

departments, including Prime Minister & Cabinet secretaries Michael Thawley and Martin Parkinson,

Finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

secretary Jane Halton,

Education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

secretary Lisa Paul,

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

secretary Paul Grimes, Attorney-General's secretary Chris Moraitis, Environment secretary Gordon de Brouwer,

Employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

secretary Renee Leon,

Social Services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

secretary Finn Pratt,

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

secretary Glenys Beauchamp,

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

secretary Chris Higgins,

Australian Secret Intelligence Service The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS ) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Commonwealth of Australia, responsible for gathering, processing, and analysing national security information from around the world, primarily throug ...

director-general Nick Warner and

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the chief competition regulator of the Government of Australia, located within the Department of the Treasury. It was established in 1995 with the amalgamation of the Australian Tra ...

chairman Rod Sims. Graduates also include Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Gordon Darcy Lilo, Foreign Minister of Mongolia Damdin Tsogtbaatar, former Indonesian Foreign Minister

Marty Natalegawa Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa (born 22 March 1963 in Bandung, West Java), is an Indonesian diplomat and was the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet. He served as Indonesia's Permanent Representative ...

, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Don Brash Donald Thomas Brash (born 24 September 1940) is a former New Zealand politician who was Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party, leader of the New Zealand National Party from ...

, former British Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt and former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. Other notable alumni include

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

judges Stephen Gageler and Geoffrey Nettle, Fijian archaeologist Tarisi Vunidilo, Wallisian member of the Congress of New Caledonia

Ilaïsaane Lauouvéa Ilaïsaane Lauouvéa (born 1970) is a New Caledonian politician, who from 2009 to 2014 was an elected member of the Congress of New Caledonia representing the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front. Education Lauouvéa was born in 1970 ...

, Chief Federal Magistrate

John Pascoe John Henry Pascoe (born 10 December 1948) is a former Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Deputy Chancellor of the University of New South Wales. Background and career Pascoe was raised in and , the only child of a grazier ...

, political journalist Stan Grant, human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson, former Chief of Army David Morrison,

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

CEO John Bryant, former

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

CEO Cheong Choong Kong,

president Michael McRobbie,

Vice-Chancellors Alan Gilbert and

Glyn Davis Glyn Conrad Davis is an Australian academic and public servant. He served as the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet from 6 June 2022 to 16 June 2025. From January 2005 until September 2018, he served as vice-chancello ...

, mathematician John H. Coates, computer programmer

Andrew Tridgell Andrew "Tridge" Tridgell (born 28 February 1967) is an Australian computer programmer. He is the author of and a contributor to the Samba (software), Samba file server, and co-inventor of the rsync algorithm. He has analysed complex proprieta ...

, public intellectual

Clive Hamilton Clive Charles Hamilton Order of Australia, AM FRSA (born 12 March 1953) is an Australian public intellectual currently serving as Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE) and the Vice-Chancellor' ...

, journalist Bettina Arndt, and economists John Deeble,

Ross Garnaut Ross Gregory Garnaut (born 28 July 1946, Perth) is an Australian economist, currently serving as a vice-chancellor's fellow and professorial fellow of economics at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of numerous academic publications ...

, Peter Drysdale,

John Quiggin John Quiggin (born 29 March 1956) is an Australian economist, a professor at the University of Queensland. He was formerly an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Federation Fellow and a member of the board of the Climate Change A ...

and commercial litigator Jozef Maynard Borja Erece, the youngest law graduate in Australian history.

Academics and staff

Notable past faculty include

, Keith Hancock, Manning Clark,

Derek Freeman John Derek Freeman (15 August 1916 – 6 July 2001) was a New Zealand anthropologist knownTuzin, page 1013. for his criticism of Margaret Mead's work on Samoan society, as described in her 1928 ethnography '' Coming of Age in Samoa''. His att ...

, H. C. Coombs, Gareth Evans, John Crawford,

Hedley Bull Hedley Norman Bull (10 June 1932 – 18 May 1985) was Professor of International Relations at the Australian National University, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford until his death from cancer in 1985. He was Montague ...

, Frank Fenner, C. P. Fitzgerald, Pierre Ryckmans, A. L. Basham, Bernhard Neumann, and former Indonesian Vice-president

Boediono Boediono (Perfected Spelling System, EYD: Budiono, pronounced ; born 25 February 1943) is an Indonesian politician and economist who served as the 11th Vice President of Indonesia, vice president of Indonesia from 2009 to 2014. He became vice pr ...

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

s have been awarded to former ANU Chancellor

and faculty members John Eccles,

John Harsanyi John Charles Harsanyi (; May 29, 1920 and August 9, 2000) was a Hungarian-American economist who spent most of his career at the University of California, Berkeley. He was the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994. ...

, Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Peter Doherty and

. Notable present scholars include

Hilary Charlesworth Hilary Christiane Mary Charlesworth (born 28 February 1955) is an Australian international lawyer. She has been a Judge of the International Court of Justice since 5 November 2021, and is Harrison Moore Professor of Law and Melbourne Laureate ...

, Ian McAllister, Hugh White, Warwick McKibbin, Keith Dowding, Amin Saikal and Jeremy Shearmur.

Honorary doctorate recipients

Notable Honorary Doctorate recipients have included former Australian public officials

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, Richard Casey,

Angus Houston Air chief marshal (Australia), Air Chief Marshal Sir Allan Grant "Angus" Houston, (born 9 June 1947) is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Air Force. He served as Chief of Air Force (Australia), Chief of Air Force from 20 June 2 ...

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is an Australian business leader, physician and former politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European ...

Owen Dixon Sir Owen Dixon (28 April 1886 – 7 July 1972) was an Australian judge and diplomat who served as the sixth Chief Justice of Australia. Many consider him to be Australia's most prominent jurist.Graham Perkin �Its Most Eminent Symbol Hidde ...

, Australian notable persons Sidney Nolan, Norman Gregg, Charles Bean, foreign dignitaries

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

K. R. Narayanan Kocheril Raman "K. R." Narayanan (27 October 1920 – 9 November 2005) was an Indian statesman, diplomat, academic, and politician who served as the vice president of India from 1992 to 1997 and president of India from 1997 to 2002. Naray ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...

, Saburo Okita and notable foreign scientists

John Cockcroft Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was an English nuclear physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which was instrumental in the developmen ...

, Jan Hendrik Oort and Alexander R. Todd.

Controversies

2023 attack

In September 2023, an ex-student stabbed two female students and assaulted a male student with a frying pan. There were several injuries but no fatalities. ANU Chancellor

later called for the ACT government to explain why the university was not informed of the risk beforehand.

Network compromise

The network of the university was subject to serious compromise from 9 November to 21 December 2018. ABC News reported that the initial breach occurred when a

phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...

message was previewed. After investigating, the university published a report on the incident
Cyber safety recommendations
are generally applicable.

2025 Review of Workplace Culture and Governance at the College of Health and Medicine

In May 2025, the university released the findings of an independent review led by former Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon into gender and cultural issues within ithe College of Health and Medicine. The review revealed widespread

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

, harassment,

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

, and

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

across the college and its constituent schools, including the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the School of Medicine and Psychology, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. The review, based on interviews with 83 individuals and 67 written submissions, described a "remarkable tolerance" for misconduct, with reporting pathways often compromised by conflicts of interest. It identified entrenched dysfunction, a toxic "work until you drop" culture, and significant gender imbalances in senior academic positions. Since the commissioning of the review in 2024, the university closed the standalone College of Health and Medicine and merged it with the College of Science. Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell publicly apologised and committed to implementing all 17 recommendations, including structural reform and external monitoring.

Footnotes

References

External links

Australian National University
{{authority control National universities 1946 establishments in Australia Universities and colleges established in 1946 Universities in the Australian Capital Territory Buildings and structures in Canberra Group of Eight (Australian universities)

History

Post-war origins

Canberra University College

Modern era

Campuses and buildings

Drill Hall Gallery

Governance and structure

University Council

Constituent colleges

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

Asia and the Pacific

Business and Economics

Systems and Society

Law, Governance and Policy

Science and Medicine

Finances and endowment

Academic profile

Libraries and archives

Tuition, loans and financial aid

Academic reputation

Student outcomes

Student life

Student associations

Student media

''Woroni''

''ANU Observer''

Residential halls and colleges

Notable people

Notable alumni

Academics and staff

Honorary doctorate recipients

Controversies

2023 attack

Network compromise

2025 Review of Workplace Culture and Governance at the College of Health and Medicine

See also

Footnotes

References

External links