Group of Eight universities: End Australia's 'broken, mediocre' research system
Australia's universities have improved their performance in the world rankings, with 22 universities in the top 400 after a year of heated debate about fee deregulation.
But the Turnbull government has been warned Australia will fall behind other nations unless it increases funding for university research to match competitors in Asia, Europe and the United States.  
The University of Melbourne was Australia's top performer in the Times Higher Education world university rankings at number 33 - the same position as last year. The Australian National University in Canberra follows at 52, the University of Sydney at 56 and the University of Queensland at 60.
The University of NSW rose from 109th place last year to 82nd this year, while Monash University rose from 83rd to 73rd.
Australia was the seventh most represented country in the rankings, which this year were expanded to include 800 universities.
Phil Baty, editor of the rankings, said the results showed Australia had a strong university sector overall, unlike some countries with a few excellent institutions. 
"It's quite a bumpy year but Australia has held on really well and certainly improved its overall position," he said.
But he said research and development spending in Australia fell to just 2.2 per cent of the federal budget in 2014, its lowest level since 1984.
"Australia will have to raise its game to ensure it can compete with the leading western powerhouses of the US and the UK and rising stars in Asia that are heavily investing in research," he said. 
"You do need that cash to improve."
The California Institute of Technology was ranked first for the fifth year in a row ahead of Oxford, Stanford and Cambridge. 
The Times rankings are seen as particularly influential in attracting lucrative international students because they are based on 13 performance indicators including industry income, teaching, research influence and international outlook.
University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis was pleased the university had been named Australia's top university again.
"The university wants to provide current and future generations with education and research equal to the best in the world," Professor Davis said. "Results like this one show that we remain on the right path to achieving this goal."
University of Sydney deputy vice-chancellor Duncan Ivison??? said the university was glad to have risen in the rankings, but would like to overtake Melbourne in the future.
"We want to do even better," he said. "The University of Melbourne has a great reputation globally and that's something we aspire to."
Professor Ivison noted the rankings were "fickle" and did not measure everything universities consider important.
UNSW vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs said the results showed the university was on "exactly the right trajectory" to reach its goal of being in the world's top 50 universities by 2025.
"Maintaining a trend in the rankings reflects years of good work, constantly improving performance, particularly in an era where there are many new, very competitive universities pushing into the upper ranks in each of the university league tables," he said.
Universities Australia chief executive Belinda Robinson said: "Our global competitors are looking the future squarely in the eyes with major investments in higher education, research and innovation.
"Australia now needs to step up our own level of public investment or we risk being left behind."
Australia's top universities
     University of Melbourne: 33 (unchanged)   Australian National University: 52 (down from 45)   University of Sydney: 56 (up from 60)   University of Queensland: 60 (up from 65)   Monash University: 73 (up from 83)   University of NSW: 82 (up from 109)   University of Western Australia: 109 (up from 157)   University of Adelaide: 149 (up from 164)    
The world's top universities
     California Institute of Technology (US): 1 (unchanged)   University of Oxford (UK): 2 (up from 3)   Stanford University (US): 3 (up from 4)   University of Cambridge (UK): 4 (up from 5)   Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US): 5 (up from 6)   Harvard University (US): 6 (down from 2)   Princeton University (US): 7 (unchanged)   Imperial College London (UK): 8 (up from 9)   Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (SUI): 9 (up from 13)   University of Chicago (US): 10 (up from 11)