Melbourne remains Australia's best

The University of Melbourne has risen to 43rd in the world and remained top in Australia in the 2012 Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings.

Melbourne, which has risen two places from the inaugural reputation rankings last year, is also the leading university in the Oceania region.

The rankings are based on a survey of 17,554 academics from 137 countries.

The survey asked academics to nominate up to 15 of the "best" institutions in their field of expertise, based on their experience and knowledge.

The reputation rankings complement the Times' annual World University Rankings, in which Melbourne is ranked 37th in the world and top in Australia.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis said it was a tribute to the University's teaching staff and researchers that it had managed to improve on last year's excellent performance in the reputation rankings.

Professor Davis said the result continued the trend of improvements in the University's rankings over the past few years.