Equity Scholarships

Equity Scholarships help disadvantaged students with the general costs associated with tertiary study. They are awarded to students from low socio-economic backgrounds, particularly those who receive Centrelink income support payments such as ABSTUDY, Austudy, Youth Allowance, JobSeeker Payment, Disability Support Pension, Parenting Payment (Single) or the Carer Payment.

There are two types of Equity Scholarship:

• Institution Equity Scholarships: these are funded by individual institutions and their value, eligibility criteria and duration differ between institutions
• Indigenous Student Success Program: these are funded by the Australian Government.

Most institutions also offer merit scholarships: apply directly to the institution for these.

To apply for an Equity Scholarship, you must be enrolled at a UAC participating institution, or applying for admission to a UAC participating institution :

• through UAC for undergraduate or postgraduate study (only a very limited number of equity scholarships open to international applicants), or
• directly to an institution, or
• through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) or the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC).

Most applicants who receive a scholarship are receiving Centrelink income support payments and/or can demonstrate additional types of disadvantage specified by the institution.

Details of requirements for individual scholarships can be found on the institution websites.

Being eligible doesn't guarantee a scholarship

Meeting scholarship eligibility criteria doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be awarded a scholarship. There are more applicants than available scholarships. As part of a competitive application process, you are ranked against the eligibility criteria, and institutions award scholarships to applicants who best meet the eligibility criteria.

If you are unsuccessful it doesn’t mean that you’re not in need; rather, it means that there are other applicants who’ve been assessed as being in greater need.