Australia Awards Scholarships 2024

Home to one of the best cities to study and a favorite destination for international students, receiving a scholarship to study in Australia is a dream many international students wish to accomplish. In this guide, we are looking at study-abroad opportunities with the Australia awards scholarships.

International students from developing countries, specifically from countries located in the Indo-Pacific region, who want to undertake full-time study in an undergraduate or postgraduate program at any Australian university are welcome to apply for the Australia Awards Scholarships.

This scholarship also encompasses the Australia Awards Africa open to African students.

Brief Australia Awards Scholarships Description

The Australia awards scholarship is one of the longtime scholarships administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia.

It was formally identified as Australian Development Scholarships, which started in a bid to provide opportunities for international students from developing nations, specifically those in the Indo-Pacific region to be able to undertake undergraduate or postgraduate studies at any of the participating Australian universities or Technical and Further Education Institutions (TAFE).

Why The Australia Awards Scholarships

The aim of providing this scholarship is to contribute to the enhanced development needs of countries that are partners of Australia in line with the bilateral and regional agreement. Australian government prioritizes international and global relationships and they’ve dedicated time and resources to help students from underdeveloped countries.

Australia Awards Scholarship is a foundation scholarship that has placed the country at the forefront of helping students from underdeveloped countries. The scholarship has greatly helped students who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to fund themselves in higher education to be able to go through college with little or no financial burdens.

The Australia Awards Africa has helped train talented students from Africa, which has helped most of them develop their home countries. The scholarship is offered to provide research opportunities to develop the skills of the individual, equipping them with the qualities to develop their own country after graduation.

Also Read: List of Scholarships by Universities in the world

What is Australia Awards Africa for Masters and Short Courses?

The Australia Awards Africa is under the Australia Awards Scholarships. It is one of the cornerstones of the Australian Government’s Development Assistance Program for master’s students from Africa.

It is aimed to provide adequately qualified Africans from eligible countries access to postgraduate education, training, and further education opportunities. Upon returning to their workplace, Australia Awards alumni should contribute to the development of their country of origin.

There are two categories of the Australia Awards Africa: Australia Awards Scholarship for master’s students and Australia Awards Scholarship Africa for short courses, for short-term specific vocational training courses in Australia and/or Africa in various development-oriented areas.

Apply specifically for the Australia Awards Africa for masters through this link.

Host Nation

The scholarship is hosted in Australia and can only be taken in any of the Australian institutions listed below:

• Aviation Australia 
• Bond University 
• Box Hill Institute TAFE 
• Bureau of Meteorology 
• Canberra Institute of Technology  
• Carnegie Mellon University  
• Central Queensland University  
• Charles Darwin University  
• Charles Sturt University  
• Chisholm Institute of TAFE 
• Curtin University of Technology 
• Deakin University 
• Edith Cowan University
• Federation University
• Flinders University
• Griffith University 
• Holmesglen Institute of TAFE  
• James Cook University 
• Kangan Institute
• La Trobe University 
• Macquarie University  
• Melbourne Polytechnic 
• Monash University  
• Murdoch University 
• Queensland University of Technology  
• RMIT University
• Southern Cross University 
• Swinburne University of Technology  
• TAFE NSW 
• TAFE Queensland 
• TAFE SA 
• Tasmanian Polytechnic 
• The Australian National University 
• The Gordon Institute of TAFE 
• The University of Adelaide  
• The University of Melbourne  
• The University of New England 
• The University of New South Wales (including ADFA) 
• The University of Newcastle  
• The University of Queensland  
• The University of Sydney
• The University of Western Australia  
• University College London  
• University of Canberra 
• University of South Australia 
• University of Southern Queensland 
• The University of Tasmania (including the Australian
• Maritime College)  
• University of Technology Sydney  
• University of The Sunshine Coast  
• University of Wollongong 
• Victoria University 
• Western Sydney University
• William Angliss Institute of TAFE

Also Read: List Australia Scholarship to Apply for

Eligible Study Level/Field

The Australia Awards Scholarships can be taken by students in an undergraduate or postgraduate program that appeals to their country’s development.

Below is a list of development-related courses that are eligible to apply for the scholarship. Though your country might have some disparities, these are priority fields of study:

• Agriculture/Food Security
• Education
• Health
• Public Policy (including public sector management, public sector reform, trade, and international diplomacy)
• Environmental Management
• Natural Resource Management (including mining-related subjects)
• Technical and Vocational Education & Training (available for Short Courses only).
• Energy (including Natural Gas and Oil Technology)
• Infrastructure
• Natural Resource Management
• Transport (including Ports, Roads and Airports Management)

Eligible Group

The scholarship opportunity is open to students from participating countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East.

Complete Country List:

Asia

• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• Cambodia
• India
• Indonesia
• Laos
• Maldives
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Philippines
• Sri Lanka
• Timor-Leste
• Vietnam

Pacific

• Federated States of Micronesia
• Fiji, Kiribati
• Marshall Islands
• Nauru, Papua New Guinea
• Republic of Palau
• Samoa, Solomon Islands
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• Wallis and
• Futuna

Middle East

Palestinian Territories

Africa (Australia Awards Africa)

• Botswana
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Nigeria
• South Africa
• Tanzania
• Zambia

Australia Awards Scholarships General Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to receive a scholarship, candidates must be or have these qualities listed below:

• Applicant must not be less than 18 years of age on the 1st of February of the year or starting the scholarship.
• Applicants must be citizens of one of the participating countries, as listed above. They must be residing in their home country when applying for the scholarship.
• Applicants must not be citizens of Australia, hold permanent residency in the country, or be applying for a permanent visa to live in Australia.
• Applicant must not be married or engaged to a person who is eligible to hold a permanent residency in Australia or New Zealand at the time of application,  selection, or immobilization phases. Note: residents of Niue and Tokelau, Cook Islands, with New Zealand citizenship are eligible to apply but should apply for a student visa ([subclass 500]);
• Applicants must not be current-serving military personnel.
• Applicants must not have previously been a beneficiary of a long-time Australia scholarship award unless they’ve resided outside Australia twice the length of the total period they spent in Australia. For example, a person who has received an Australia Awards scholarship in Australia for 4 years is not eligible to apply for another Australia Awards scholarship until the person has resided outside Australia for not less than 8 years.
• Applicant should have satisfied any of the specific criteria stated by the program area or the person’s government of citizenship (e.g. having worked a specific number of years in a particular sector).
• Applicants should be able to satisfy all the admission requirements of the specific institution at which the scholarship would be taken. This implies that the scholarship would be withdrawn from a winner if he or she does not satisfy the admission requirements of the institution he/she wants to study. This may not be known until Program Areas request a placement at selected institutions);
• Applicants must be able to meet all requirements of the Department of Home Affairs to be able to hold a student visa. This may imply that the program area may need to withdraw a scholarship award offer if the beneficiary cannot satisfy all the visa requirements;
• Applicants must not be applying for a scholarship to study for a course on an academic level lesser than he/she has already achieved, for example: when an applicant is applying for a Master’s scholarship when the applicant already holds a PhD degree); and
• Applicants should inform the coordinators in charge of the program in their area if they have any sort of connection or relationship with staff employed at the Program Areas (this includes locally engaged staff at post), our relationships with managing contractors in a bid for the application to be transparently and properly managed.

Australia Awards Scholarships Benefits

• Australia Awards scholarship would be offered to the individual throughout the period it will take for the person to complete his/her program of study specified by the specific Australian higher education institution, where the person is studying, including any other form of preparatory training.
• The following benefits generally apply:
• Full tuition fees
• Return air travel. Payment of one return, economy class airfare to and from Australia, through the most direct route
• Establishment allowance:  A one-time payment as a contribution towards textbooks, study materials, accommodation expenses, etc.
• Contribution to Living Expenses (CLE): A contribution for every fortnight to basic living expenses,  paid at a specific rate determined by the department.
• Introductory Academic Program (IAP): A must program before the start of the formal academic studies that’d cover information about living and studying in Australia
• Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) offered for the period of the award— This is provided to cover all the student’s basic medical costs (having the exception of pre-existing conditions)
• Pre-course English (PCE) fees: if deemed necessary PCE may be offered to Scholars for in-country and/or in-Australia training
• Supplementary academic support may also be available to ensure a scholar’s academic success or increase their academic experience
• Fieldwork (for awards on research and Master by coursework which embeds a research component where fieldwork is a must) may be available for qualified research students for only one economy class airfare on return through the most direct route to their home country or within Australia.

Application Guidelines

This scholarship is a very large scholarship and has different application guidelines for each country. Therefore it is important that you check the application deadline of your country through this link or check the general application closing dates concerning countries in the Scholarship Closing Date section of this content.

If you have checked the application closing date in your own country you can follow this link to see the complete application guidelines for the scholarship

Application Closing date

Through the help of the official website, we have listed the respective official deadlines for each of the eligible countries. Check out your country and its official deadline on the scholarship’s official webpage.

The general scholarship application closing date is 29 April 2024 annually and the course of study starts in 2024

Australia Awards Scholarships Frequently Asked Questions

Please do well to visit the participating countries page and check out the Australia Awards Policy Handbook if it would interest you to find out more about how to apply for an Australia Awards scholarship.

Where can I study?

You can study at any participating Australian institution. As listed below:

Aviation Australia 
Bond University 
Box Hill Institute TAFE 
Bureau of Meteorology 
Canberra Institute of Technology  
Carnegie Mellon University  
Central Queensland University  
Charles Darwin University  
Charles Sturt University  
Chisholm Institute of TAFE 
Curtin University of Technology 
Deakin University 
Edith Cowan University
Federation University
Flinders University
Griffith University 
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE  
James Cook University 
Kangan Institute
La Trobe University 
Macquarie University  
Melbourne Polytechnic 
Monash University  
Murdoch University 
Queensland University of Technology  
RMIT University
Southern Cross University 
Swinburne University of Technology  
TAFE NSW 
TAFE Queensland 
TAFE SA 
Tasmanian Polytechnic 
The Australian National University 
The Gordon Institute of TAFE 
The University of Adelaide  
The University of Melbourne  
The University of New England 
The University of New South Wales (including ADFA) 
The University of Newcastle  
The University of Queensland  
The University of Sydney
The University of Western Australia  
University College London  
University of Canberra 
University of South Australia 
University of Southern Queensland 
The University of Tasmania (including the Australian
Maritime College)  
University of Technology Sydney  
University of The Sunshine Coast  
University of Wollongong 
Victoria University 
Western Sydney University
William Angliss Institute of TAFE

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