Open Universities in Australia

Choose open universities for online degrees and courses that are accessible and in high demand. You can enroll in bachelor degrees and postgraduate courses, including graduate certificates, graduate diplomas, and masters degrees. University study is available for online learners.

What is an Open University?

In Australia, an open university provides flexible access to higher education by offering a strong selection of online degrees. Large numbers of bachelor and postgraduate students are able to enroll in fully online programs.

An open university is defined as having over 1,000 undergraduate and 1,000 postgraduate online students. At least 15% of total enrolments are external, demonstrating the university's commitment to accessible online learning.

Based on recent enrolment statistics, Australia has 18 open universities:

Postgraduate Online Universities

Some Australian universities are considered "open" primarily for postgraduate courses. These universities offer strong online programs for graduates. Each has over 1,000 students enrolled in online postgraduate courses, accounting for at least 20% of graduate school enrolments.

The open (postgraduate) universities in Australia are:

Campus-Focused Unis

Around a dozen Australian universities participate in distance education but without being a "go-to" destination for prospective online learners. Some are smaller and have fewer than 1,000 online students. Others offer limited online programs, with no more than 15% of their total student population online, showing patchy course availability.

• Avondale University (234 students | 23% online)
• University of Divinity (283 students | 22% online)
• Federation University Australia (1,954 students | 15% online)
• Macquarie University (5,549 students | 13% online)
• University of the Sunshine Coast (1,767 students | 11% online)
• Western Sydney University (4,454 students | 10% online)
• Murdoch University (2,026 students | 9% online)
• University of Queensland (3,354 students | 6% online)
• University of Wollongong (1,768 students | 5% online)
• University of Melbourne (3,432 students | 5% online)
• University of Sydney (3,556 students | 5% online)
• Australian Catholic University (1,249 students | 4% online)
• University of Notre Dame (data not supplied)

"Closed" Universities

Universities that are not open offer few, opportunities to study online with them remotely. Each of these unis each have fewer than 1,000 online students and less than 15% of their total enrolments online:

• University of Western Australia (585 students | 2% online)
• Australian National University (691 students | 3% online)
• Bond University (184 students | 4% online)