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Australia has the most universities in the world's top 100 educational institutions under 50 years old, according to the Times Higher Education survey.
"Australia is now the world's number one nation when it comes to the new generation of world-class universities," said the Times Higher Education editor Phil Baty following the release of the research on Thursday.
The results of the annual study reveal that of the 16 Australian universities in the top 100, the top three are in NSW. The University of Technology in Sydney took out the top ranking in the country at No.21 in the world, while The University of Newcastle and the University of Wollongong came in at 30 and 31 respectively.
UTS Vice Chancellor Attila Brungs said the result was an achievement in such a competitive landscape.
"We should be very proud of the quality, impact and rapid progress of so many of the younger universities across Australia".
The list is designed as a predictor of which universities could challenge the academic dominance of institutions such as Harvard and Oxford in the decades to come. The UK finished with 15 in the top 100 this year, while Germany and the US had seven each.
The rankings cap off a good week for tertiary education across the country, with Australia's older universities performing strongly in another survey, the QS world rankings, released on Wednesday.
Three Australian universities sat comfortably in the top 10 for specific discipline areas.
The Australian National University (ANU) came seventh in politics, forestry and agriculture and 10th in development studies. The University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney both scored highly in education, taking out fifth and ninth spots.
Nonetheless, there is still a significant gap between Australia's sandstone universities and their UK and US counterparts. Cambridge is in the top 10 in the world in 31 different subjects while Harvard holds down a top 10 spot in 28 disciplines.
QS' head of research Ben Sowter said Australia was making good ground.
"The world-class performance of several Australian institutions reflects their high-impact research and outstanding reputation among an industry leading sample of global academic experts and graduate employers".
Times editor Phil Baty agreed.
"While its Group of Eight old guard continue to shine in the traditional World University Rankings, Australia also has a thriving community of young, dynamic universities making a global impact, too."
"The universities in this unique and pioneering ranking are disrupting the old order. Some of the institutions have achieved in a matter of decades what some institutions have taken centuries to do."
Want to know how your University ranks overall? Filter through the QS interactive below.
