THE University of Canberra has topped the 2021 world rankings for its recognised “progressive” work to reduce inequalities.

The critically-renowned Times Higher Education publication measures tertiary institutions on sustainable development goals that are in line with those of the United Nations.

The result that was announced on Wednesday night (April 21) is considered an indicator of the university’s impact on local and global communities, as well as its progressive outlook and strong focus on partnerships.

“This is an amazing achievement for UC,” Professor president and vice-chancellor of the university Paddy Nixon.

“Education is the key to addressing all inequality, and as a civic university, it is our role to ensure we have a warm, living community that supports all our students and staff and that the research we do impacts the real world.”

The UK-based magazine’s impact rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities from calibrated indicators to provide a comprehensive and balanced comparison across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.

The impact rankings comes from among 1,115 worldwide universities across 94 countries or specific regions.

In the reduced inequalities category, the university’s research on social inequalities, policies on discrimination, and commitment to recruiting staff and students from under-represented groups were among the factors that led to it being classified the world’s No.1 university.

“We are immensely proud of this result because it is high external recognition that the University of Canberra is achieving our sustainable development goals,” Professor and deputy vice-chancellor, Research and Innovation Leigh Sullivan said.

Among the university’s student population, 38 per cent are first-generation students, a further 10 per cent identify as students with disabilities while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent two per cent of employment towards a goal of reaching three per cent.

“These are just some quantifiable indicators of UC’s diverse community of both students and staff, and that our strong policies supporting equity and diversity are effective,” Prof Sullivan said.

The university tied for fifth place in the world for quality education, and is also placed in the Top 20 universities for gender quality.

“These rankings results belong to each and every member of the UC community, whose efforts to support diversity and equity have made such a difference,” Prof Sullivan said.

“As we celebrate, we also acknowledge that there still remains much to address in these areas, and we are also looking forward to building on our current work, towards achieving all our sustainable development goals.”