The UniSport Nationals is a multi-sport event held annually between the 43 Australian universities and tertiary institutions. Overseen by UniSport, the peak governing body of university sport in Australia, the nationals is the flagship event on the university sporting calendar and attracts over 6,000 student athletes each year. The nationals consist of Division 1, Division 2 and a smaller number of standalone sporting competitions held throughout the year.
History
The inaugural Australian University Games were held in Brisbane in 1993. The 2015 Australian University Games hosted in Gold Coast was the largest in its history, with more than 8,000 student athletes competing across 32 sports.
The University of Sydney has been the most successful amongst competing universities in the Australian University Games, having achieved "Overall Champion" a total of nine times (1995–1996, 1999–2003, 2007, 2014). The University of Western Australia became the first University outside the big 3 (the University of Sydney, the University of Melbourne, and Monash University) to win the overall champion title since 1994, when it clinched the 2010 title. The final Australian University Games concluded in 2017 with the University of Technology Sydney, claiming their second overall champion title. The UniSport Nationals replaced the Australian University Games from 2018 onwards.
Currently 31 of the sports are included in the main national championships event, which rotates between Perth and the Gold Coast in its location. The remaining national unisport championships are held as standalone championships through the year, often as part of partner events hosted by universities.
While these championships are usually held annually, the 2020 and 2021 events that were set to take place on the Gold Coast were cancelled due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Along with its main national championships, UniSport Australia also cancelled the standalone championships throughout 2020. The event returned successfully in 2022 in Perth.
In July 2022, UniSport Australia announced that they would be adopting the National Integrity Framework, and associated integrity policies, after forming a partnership with Sport Integrity Australia.
Member universities Institution Region Location Australian Catholic University (ACU) South,East,North Ballarat, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney Australian College of Physical Education (ACPE) East SydneyNew South Wales Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) East CanberraAustralian Capital Territory Australian National University (ANU) East CanberraAustralian Capital Territory Avondale University (AVON) East Lake MacquarieNew South Wales Bond University (BOND) North Gold CoastQueensland Central Queensland University (CQU) North Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, BrisbaneQueensland Charles Darwin University (CDU) North DarwinNorthern Territory Charles Sturt University (CSU) East Albury-Wodonga, Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange, Manly, Wagga WaggaNew South Wales Curtin University (CURT) West PerthWestern Australia Deakin University (DEAK) South Geelong, Melbourne, WarrnamboolVictoria Edith Cowan University (ECU) West PerthWestern Australia Federation University Australia (FED) South Ballarat, Churchill, Berwick, HorshamVictoria Flinders University (FU) South AdelaideSouth Australia Griffith University (GU) North Brisbane, Gold CoastQueensland International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS) East SydneyNew South Wales James Cook University (JCU) North Cairns, TownsvilleQueensland La Trobe University (LTU) South Albury-Wodonga, Bendigo, MelbourneVictoria Macquarie University (MQU) East SydneyNew South Wales Monash University (MON) South MelbourneVictoria Murdoch University (MDU) West PerthWestern Australia Queensland University of Technology (QUT) North BrisbaneQueensland RMIT University (RMIT) South MelbourneVictoria Southern Cross University (SCU) East LismoreNew South Wales Swinburne University of Technology (SUT) South MelbourneVictoria The University of Adelaide (AU) South AdelaideSouth Australia The University of Melbourne (MELB) South MelbourneVictoria The University of New England (UNE) North ArmidaleNew South Wales University of Newcastle (NCLE) East NewcastleNew South Wales The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) West PerthWestern Australia The University of Queensland (UQ) North BrisbaneQueensland The University of Sydney (USYD) East SydneyNew South Wales The University of Western Australia (UWA) West PerthWestern Australia Torrens University Australia (TUA) South,North,East Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney University of Canberra (UC) East CanberraAustralian Capital Territory University of New South Wales (UNSW) East SydneyNew South Wales University of South Australia (USA) South AdelaideSouth Australia University of Southern Queensland (USQ) North ToowoombaQueensland University of Tasmania (TU) South Hobart, LauncestonTasmania University of Technology Sydney (UTS) East SydneyNew South Wales University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) North Sunshine CoastQueensland University of Western Sydney (UWS) East SydneyNew South Wales University of Wollongong (UOW) East WollongongNew South Wales Victoria University, Australia (VU) South MelbourneVictoria
Map of host cities
Results Overall Champion
The university with the most pennants across all sports is awarded the Overall Champion Trophy.
Per Capita Champion
The university with the highest points based on performance and enrolment numbers is awarded the Doug Ellis Per Capita Trophy.
Spirit Champion
The university that has shown the best sportsmanship is awarded John White Spirit Trophy.
Table of Results Year Host city Host University Overall Champion University Per Capita Champion University Spirit Champion University 1993 Brisbane The University of Queensland The University of Queensland Charles Sturt University University of Western Sydney 1994 Wollongong University of Wollongong University of Wollongong University of Wollongong University of Ballarat 1995 Darwin Northern Territory University The University of Sydney Northern Territory University University of Technology Sydney 1996 Canberra Australian National University University of Canberra The University of Sydney Deakin University - Burwood Deakin University - Burwood 1997 Melbourne La Trobe University The University of Melbourne Deakin University - Burwood Deakin University - Burwood 1998 Melbourne Monash UniversityThe University of Melbourne Monash University University of Ballarat The University of Western Australia 1999 Perth Curtin University of TechnologyEdith Cowan UniversityMurdoch UniversityThe University of Notre Dame AustraliaThe University of Western Australia The University of Sydney Charles Sturt University - Mitchell The University of New England 2000 Ballarat University of Ballarat The University of Sydney University of Ballarat The University of New South Wales 2001 Sydney The University of Sydney The University of Sydney Charles Sturt University - Bathurst The University of Western Australia 2002 Adelaide The University of AdelaideUniversity of South AustraliaFlinders University The University of Sydney University of Ballarat Charles Sturt University - Bathurst 2003 Newcastle The University of Newcastle The University of Sydney University of Ballarat Australian Defence Force Academy 2004 Perth Curtin University of TechnologyEdith Cowan UniversityMurdoch UniversityThe University of Notre Dame AustraliaThe University of Western Australia The University of Melbourne University of Ballarat Curtin University of Technology 2005 Brisbane Griffith University The University of Melbourne Macquarie University Queensland University of Technology 2006 Adelaide The University of AdelaideUniversity of South AustraliaFlinders University The University of Melbourne The University of Adelaide Victoria University 2007 Gold Coast Griffith University - Gold Coast The University of Sydney Australian College of Physical Education Charles Sturt University 2008 Melbourne Monash UniversityVictoria University Monash University The University of New England Griffith University 2009 Gold Coast Bond University Monash University Bond University The University of Queensland 2010 Perth The University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia RMIT University 2011 Gold Coast The University of Sydney Bond University Murdoch University 2012 Adelaide The University of Melbourne The University of Western Australia RMIT University 2013 Gold Coast The University of Melbourne Bond University Queensland University of Technology 2014 Sydney The University of Sydney Bond University Edith Cowan University 2015 Gold Coast The University of Sydney Bond University The University of Western Australia 2016 Perth University of Technology Sydney The University of Western Australia Monash University 2017 Gold Coast University of Technology Sydney Bond University Macquarie University 2018 Gold Coast The University of Queensland Bond University RMIT University 2019 Gold Coast The University of Sydney Bond University RMIT University 2020 Gold CoastCancelled 2021 Gold CoastCancelled 2022 Perth Curtin UniversityUniversity of Western Australia University of Sydney Bond University Western Sydney University 2023 Gold Coast Southern Cross University University of Sydney Bond University Western Sydney University 2024 Canberra University of CanberraAustralian National University University of Sydney Bond University Australian National University 2025 Gold Coast University of Sydney University of Technology Sydney University of Melbourne
Sports Trophies
3x3 Basketball
Men Year Gold Silver Bronze 4th 2018 Macquarie University RMIT University University of Technology Sydney The University of Sydney 2019 Macquarie University The University of Newcastle Monash University University of Technology Sydney 2021 University of Technology Sydney Macquarie University Monash University RMIT University 2022 Macquarie University University of Technology Sydney RMIT University Deakin University 2023Div 1 The University of Sydney Monash University Macquarie University Western Sydney UniversityDiv 2Macquarie UniversityWestern Sydney UniversityUNSW SydneyEdith Cowan University 2024Div 1 University of Canterbury (NZ) The University of Sydney Macquarie University Deakin UniversityDiv 2 Victoria University The University of Sydney Macquarie University Charles Sturt University 2025Div 1 The University of Melbourne The University of Sydney Macquarie University La Trobe UniversityDiv 2 Monash University The University of Sydney University of Sydney Technology Macquarie University
Women Year Gold Silver Bronze 4th 2018 Monash University University of Technology Sydney The University of Melbourne The University of New South Wales 2019 University of Technology Sydney Monash University The University of Sydney Deakin University 2021 Monash University The University of New South Wales University of Wollongong The Australian National University 2022 University of Technology Sydney La Trobe University RMIT University Macquarie University2023Div 1University of SydneyUniversity of WollongongMacquarie UniversityUniversity of Technology SydneyDiv 2UNSW SydneyMonash UniversityMacquarie UniversityWestern Sydney University2024Div 1University of SydneyLa Trobe UniversityUniversity of Waikato (NZ)Victoria UniversityDiv 2University of SydneyUniversity of the Sunshine CoastMonash UniversityCharles Sturt University2025Div 1University of TasmaniaUniversity of SydneyLa Trobe UniversityUniversity of Technology SydneyDiv 2University of SydneyCharles Sturt UniversityMonash UniversityUniversity of the Sunshine Coast
Athletics
Overall