Few of our institutions are as significant or as complex as Australia’s universities. This first comprehensive history of Australia’s university sector explores how universities work and for whom, and how their relationship with each other, their academics and students and the public has evolved over a century.The book explores how Australia’s universities have sought to resolve tensions between their separate identities and common interests, and how they have engaged collectively with government and the public. It also tells the story of how they have expanded to usher in an era of much wider participation in higher education; and how they have shaped and been shaped by internationalisation, including their creation of the country’s third-largest export sector.