LA TROBE University has received international recognition for its work towards achieving gender equality.
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Times Higher Education has ranked universities around the world against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
Those goals include areas like quality education, affordable and clean energy, and climate action.
La Trobe has ranked first in the world for gender equality, and second for its contribution to health and wellbeing.
It has also come fourth overall for its contribution to the UN goals.
The university's Vice-Chancellor John Dewar AO said the institution was "absolutely delighted" by the recognition.
"To be ranked fourth in the world across all of the sustainability goals is a huge achievement for the university," he said.
"The thing I really like about this ranking is that it is a much more wide-ranging assessment for the university. It's not just about our research or teaching, it's also about the way we run ourselves.
"It's a great testament to the work that all of the staff do at the university. We're absolutely thrilled."
Professor Dewar said the university had made a concerted effort towards gender equality in the past six years, with women now making up about 48 per cent of senior staff roles.
"We have never used quotas but we have used targets," he said. "We have held ourselves accountable to achieve them. If we're not achieving them, then we look at why not.
"For example, when we're recruiting for a senior role, I think it's really important to take more time to ensure the short list has a good representation of women.
"That often takes more effort because most women don't easily put themselves forward. Sometimes they need to be encouraged.
"But we have never been driven by quotas. We have always appointed the best people for the job. It's just about getting the right people into the field."
Professor Dewar said the work at La Trobe's Bendigo campus also contributed to the university's success in the health and wellbeing category.
"I think it recognises that La Trobe has an enormous presence in health research and teaching," he said.
"We have the largest Rural Health School in Australia, which has its headquarters in Bendigo. We teach and train a huge proportion of Victoria's regional and rural health workforce.
"Our Bendigo campus and other regional campuses also offer higher education for those who come from families where there is no history of higher education.
"That's a really important part of our mission and we're very proud of the work that is being done there."
Professor Dewar said the international ranking could help sell the university to the world and bring more students to regions like Bendigo.
"I have had emails congratulating us from all over the world," he said. "People notice these things.
"Once we're allowed to open our doors again, I'm very confident it will significantly help the university to attract more students.
"Bendigo has the potential to become a great university city. They say to start that, there has to be a great university in the city.
"This ranking shows that Bendigo already has a great university. We now need to think about what we can do next."
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Tara Cosoleto
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
