Australia Awards Scholarships, formerly known as Australian Development Scholarships (ADS), provide opportunities for people from developing countries, particularly those countries located in the Indo-Pacific region, to undertake full time undergraduate or postgraduate study at participating Australian universities and Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions.

The Australia Awards Scholarship benefits generally include: full tuition fees, return air travel, establishment allowance, contribution to living expenses (CLE), Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), Introductory Academic Program (IAP), Pre-course English (PCE) fees, etc. See the complete list of benefits at the official website.

To be eligible to receive a Scholarship, applicants must:

1. be a minimum of 18 years of age on 1 February of the year of commencing the scholarship;
2. be a citizen of a participating country (as listed on the Australia Awards website) and be residing in and applying for the scholarship from their country of citizenship;
3. not be a citizen of Australia, hold permanent residency in Australia or be applying for a visa to live in Australia permanently;
4. not be married to, engaged to, or a de facto of a person who holds, or is eligible to hold, Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency, at any time during the application, selection or mobilisation phases (note: residents of Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau with New Zealand citizenship are eligible but must apply for a Student visa [subclass 500]);
5. not be current serving military personnel;
6. not have previously received a long-term Australia Award unless they have resided outside of Australia for twice the length of the total time that they were in Australia (for example, a previous awardee who has been on an Australia Awards Scholarship in Australia for four years will not be eligible to apply for another Australia Awards Scholarship until they have resided outside Australia for eight years);
7. not hold convictions of criminal activities (including in their home country) including those relating to Child Protection and PSEAH;
8. recipients under the Pacific Secondary School Scholarship Program (PSSSP) who have completed their secondary school education in Australia in the year prior are eligible to apply for a long-term Australia Award;
9. have satisfied any specific criteria established by the Program Area or the government of the applicant’s country of citizenship (e.g. having worked a certain number of years in an appropriate
   sector);
10. be able to satisfy the admission requirements of the institution at which the award is to be undertaken (this may mean that Program Areas will need to withdraw an award offer if the recipient cannot satisfy the institution’s admission requirements. This may not be known until Program Areas request a placement at selected institutions);
11. be able to satisfy all requirements of the Department of Home Affairs to hold a Student Visa. This may mean that the Program Area will need to withdraw an award offer if the recipient cannot satisfy the visa requirements;
12. not be applying for a scholarship for a course of study at an academic level lower than already achieved (e.g. be applying for a Master’s scholarship when they already hold a PhD); and
13. applicants must inform the Program Area of any connection or relationship to staff employed at Program Areas (including locally engaged staff at post) or with managing contractors so that the
    application may be properly and transparently managed.

Target group:

Citizens of one of the participating countries in Asia, Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. See the complete list of participating countries.