They're visually-appealing, highly popular, built on top of robust structures, so that they should "cope with" with huge amounts of traffic and content... These are but some of the things that the top 10 Drupal websites in Australia have in common.

But which are they, more precisely? Australia's finest examples of websites using Drupal?

We've done our research and put together a 10 best list for you.

Let's dive right into it:
 

1. Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation(ANSTO)

"Australia's research and development organization, and the center of Australian nuclear expertise..." (source: directory.gov.au)

And the presentation could go on with other superlatives to "wow" you with:
 

• Australia's most important science infrastructure
• (one of) Australia's largest public research organizations
• it sums up more than 1000 experts that use nuclear techniques to find the answer to various medical, environmental, and industrial challenges
   

A significant content load? A large team of content editors in need of the most robust tools to streamline their content management workflow with?

The web project had Drupal 8 written all over it...

And it quickly became one of the top 10 Drupal websites in Australia.

Why Drupal?

Because Drupal provides the best editing experience. Content managers are free to build new custom pages on their own, by just selecting and assembling pre-designed blocks.

Not to mention that the "component-based" approach to design ensures consistency throughout the website and, implicitly... the best user experience, as well. 
 

2. University of Technology, Sydney

The University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia's #1 university and the 10th best one in the world, also has its website running on Drupal.

Drupal is the platform that powers a lot of higher education websites worldwide, so... no surprise here, right?

The reasons why UTS chose Drupal are obvious:
 

• their multi-site structure incorporates no less than 150 UTS sub-sites
• the "cluster" of mini-sites needed a central content hub and a unified platform
• the internal content team needed enough freedom and flexibility to create, edit, and publish content across the entire network of sub-sites
• they needed to integrate lots of third-party systems (e.g. systems sourcing course information) 
   

In short:
 

• Drupal makes the perfect choice for multi-site setups
• it integrates seamlessly with third-party apps
• it provides the best editorial experience
   

3. The Australian Government      

Undoubtedly one of the top 10 Drupal websites in Australia. 

"The Government of Australia is standardizing on Drupal for hundreds of government departments and agencies across Australia, starting with the country’s homepage. Drupal enhances digital services to millions of citizens." (source: Drupal.org)  

Why Drupal?

For multiple reasons:
 

• Drupal's ideal for multi-site architectures
• Drupal provides a granular permission system
• it integrates with lots of third-party services and solutions (payment systems, citizen service centers, various "latest news" sources) 
• it's one of the most secure CMS platforms: Drupal has its own dedicated Security Team and a foolproof process for monitoring, identifying, and publishing any security issues
• it's flexible, giving unmatched freedom to content editors and website admins: anyone from the internal team can update content on the website quick and easy

Source: Drupal.org
 

4. Bunjil Place    

The "home of arts and entertainment in the City of Casey" is Drupal-powered. 

And it's probably one of the most visually impressive examples of Drupal websites from Australia.

A high-trafficked website, that "bids on" Drupal 8 to provide an interactive user experience.

Now, if we were to list just some of the strongest reasons why Drupal was the best option for this Australian website:
 

• the diversified content hosted on the website (text, video, eye-catching images), that falls into multiple sections and subsections
• the need for a new responsive design
• the need to incorporate some powerful user-oriented functionalities (e.g. visitors can easily book spaces in the palace for their future events)
   

Drupal was the only choice here...

5. The Australian

Drupal's already famous for being the best CMS solution for news websites.

And the CMS platform is behind the online presence of "The Australian" — Australia's national news brand — as well.

A high-trafficked, content-packed website, with content that needs to be updated on the fly, on a regular basis. 

They couldn't have opted for another platform than Drupal...

6. Australian Conservation Foundation, One of the Top 10 Drupal Websites in Australia  

Australia's national environment organization — over 600,000 people — has its website running on Drupal.

It's a campaign-driven site, one of the most popular Drupal-based websites in Australia, that leverages the CMS platform's top features to:
 

• manage all their content workflows with great ease
• engage their member database and anyone willing to address urgent environmental problems via social networking, donation processing, event management, analytics, fundraising
   

A website that needed to withstand high amounts of traffic and to support complex content workflows: Drupal was the most suitable CMS solution.
 

7. Australian War Memorial

"The Memorial's purpose is to commemorate the sacrifice of those Australians who have died in war or on operational service and those who have served our nation in times of conflict." (source: awm.gov.au)

One of the top 10 Drupal websites in Australia that turned this CMS platform into a reliable publishing tool for all the historians, researchers, and designers accessing it.

We're talking here about a content-heavy website, hosting content that ranges from:
 

• war-related material
• to extensive archive
• to a database of unique collections of film footage, artworks, sound recordings
• to articles on Australia's military history
   

And where there's rich and varied content, that needs to be handled with ease by various internal teams, there's Drupal, as well.

Drupal with its:
 

• robust inline content creation and editing tools
• sophisticated access control system
   

8. Charles Darwin University 

One of Australia's public universities and one of the world's most reputed universities (among the top 2% universities on the globe) has its website running on Drupal.

And for all the self-evident reasons:
 

• they needed to provide internal users with the best experience: Drupal enables content editors to create their custom course pages by simply putting together pre-built components
• they also needed to provide an intuitive search experience to all the external users: Drupal makes it easy for students to find, review courses, and sign up
   

9. International Business Times Australia

 
The Australian version of this digital news publication is built on Drupal.

But is it of any surprise that the go-to source of financial news in Australia has chosen this CMS platform to build its online presence on?

After all:
 

• news publications are Drupal's "specialty"
• Drupal's already famed for powering some of the most content-intensive websites in the world 
• Drupal's gained a reputation for being the CMS that provides the best content editing experience: the internal team at International Business Times Australia can create, update, and publish new content on the go
   

10. Car News Australia      

One of the top 10 Drupal websites in Australia, that stands out from the crowd as a high-trafficked one.

Its complex content ecosystem has turned Drupal into the Carsguide team's only option.

The site's an intricate network of 7 different sections — "buy + sell", "reviews", "news", "advice"... — that unfold, each, into "clusters" of multiple sub-sections.

A content network that called for a CMS with particularly powerful content creation and editing features.

A content-rich architecture that's now powered by Drupal.
 

The END!

We're curious now: what other famous brands are on your own top 10 Drupal websites in Australia?

Photo by Iván Lojko on Unsplash