The Best Universities for Law in Australia (2026)

Australia is home to some of the world’s top universities for studying Law, combining a strong academic reputation, practical learning experiences, and excellent connections to the legal profession. With leading institutions like the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, and Australian National University (ANU) consistently ranked among the best globally, Australia is an ideal destination to pursue a Masters in Law.

When I explored Masters degrees in Law across Australia, a few key aspects really caught my attention: the quality and relevance of curricula, hands-on opportunities like legal clinics, internships, clerkships, pro bono programmes and mooting, strong links with top law firms, barristers’ chambers, courts, NGOs and government departments, clear accreditation pathways toward admission to practice, and robust support for both domestic and international students. In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the best law schools in Australia in 2026, and help you understand how each ranking works.

There are many reasons why someone might want to study Law at a university in Australia. Here are just a few:

• Australian universities are known for their prestigious law schools, offering high-quality legal education.
• Masters in Law programmes offer a wide range of specialisations such as International Law, Corporate Law, Human Rights Law, Environmental Law and many more.
• Studying law in Australia allows students to connect with professionals through guest lectures, industry events and alumni networks that enhance career prospects.
• There are many scholarships that are available specifically for international students pursuing a Masters in Law making it financially feasible.

The following tables give the 10 best Australian universities for Law, according to global and local university rankings. It can show you which Australian universities are amongst the best in the world and help you compare institutions on an international level.

This information is based on the latest rankings tables, researched and published by Times Higher Education, QS and Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Each ranking system uses its own methodology, with different factors having more or less influence on a university's result.

For more information on using international rankings as a postgraduate, see our guide.

The Times Higher Education rankings are strong in academic focus and diverse teaching metrics, but do not include employer-specific metrics. Additionally, the rankings may not include all specialist institutions.

The QS World University Rankings are designed to meet the needs of prospective students, with more weight given to student-centric metrics such as staff/student ratio, international recruitment and employer opinion. The rankings are balanced between qualitative and quantitative data, but give less weight to research than some other rankings.

The ARWU rankings reflect the presence of elite academics and the future academic success of graduates. However, they do not directly assess the quality of education at a university or take into account other aspects of university performance.

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