When it comes to universities aged no older than 50, the University of Wollongong is the nation's leading non-metropolitan university.
The 2019 Times Higher Education Young University Rankings also ranked UOW fourth overall in Australia, and 29th out of 350 universities worldwide.
This placement is up from last year's ranking of 32nd and marks the eighth consecutive year UOW has made the list of top young universities.
UOW lifted its score in all five key performance indicators. The university improved markedly in the citations category from 67.1 to 75.7 - in line with 2020 QS World University Rankings results.
UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said the ranking was a glowing endorsement of the university's commitment to world-class research and exceptional teaching quality.
"This latest result confirms the University of Wollongong's place as a leading institution internationally as well as in Australia," Professor Wellings said.
"In an intensely competitive field, ranking in the top 30 young universities worldwide is a welcome recognition of our commitment to solving global challenges and to producing graduates who are equipped with vital skills for workplaces today and into the future."
Young universities were measured on their teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook.
The same performance indicators were used in the overall Times Higher Education World University Rankings, however when ranking young universities, less emphasis was placed on reputation.
The Young University Rankings were announced in Guildford in the United Kingdom on Thursday at the Times Higher Education Young Universities Summit.
Meantime, a day earlier in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, UOW was ranked in the top 100 of 500 universities in the world across 10 disciplines including civil engineering, atmospheric science and energy science and engineering.
UOW also climbed to 212, climbing six places in a year in the 2020 QS World University Rankings announced in mid-June.
