Aboriginal Scholarships and Grants

All scholarships and grants that are listed on this page are open only to students who identify as Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander.  

We have three different categories of scholarships that are specific to students who identify as Aboriginal and / or Torres Strait Islander.  Further information about the scholarship categories can be found by clicking on the below headings: 

• Aboriginal Grouped Scholarships
• Commonwealth Scholarships
• Discipline Specific 

We also the following information to help you with your application: 

• Watch this video - How to apply for a scholarship
• Apply for UniSA Aboriginal Scholarships - Aboriginal scholarships available in UniSA

If you need any additional support with your application, please contact an Aboriginal Student (and Community) Engagement Officer from Wirringka Student Services.

 

Aboriginal Grouped Scholarships

When you apply for one of the following scholarships, you will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria for all of the scholarships listed within the table.  

Please click on the scholarship name for more information about the scholarship, including the eligibility and selection criteria. 

Once you have submitted your application, you will be contacted by the Scholarships team within 5-7 business days and advised supporting documentation you are required to provide. 

Scholarship Name	Value	Career	When / Where to apply
Alkira Burrows Aboriginal Scholarship	$10,000 per annum, up to $20,000	Undergraduate
Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship	$5,000 per annum, up to $20,000	Undergraduate	Scholarship re-opening in 2025 is still to be confirmed
Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal STEM Scholarship	$10,000	Undergraduate
Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal Scholarship (sponsored by Department for Industry, Innovation and Science)	$5,000	Undergraduate & Postgraduate
Gavin Wanganeen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship (supported by Neville Morcombe KC)	Up to $45,000	Undergraduate
Goodes O'Loughlin UniSA GO Scholarship	$6,000 per annum up to 4 years	Undergraduate
Irene & David Davy Scholarship for Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education	Up to $6,000	Undergraduate
Ngampa Aboriginal Student Scholarship	Up to $15,000	Undergraduate
O’Sullivan Stacey Aboriginal Scholarship	Up to $30,000	Undergraduate
Peter Varcoe Memorial Grant	$1,650	Undergraduate
Resthaven 75th Anniversary Undergraduate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nursing Scholarship	$5,000 per annum, up to 2 years	Undergraduate
Resthaven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Allied Health Scholarship	$5,000 per annum, up to 2 years	Undergraduate
Shirley Harper Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship in Education	$4,000 per annum, up to 4 years	Undergraduate
Yangadlitya Aboriginal Postgraduate Scholarship	$5,000 per annum, up to $10,000	Postgraduate

 

Commonwealth Scholarships - Grouped

The Commonwealth Scholarships Program is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training.

It aims to assist students who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders who are experiencing financial need, particularly those from remote and regional areas. Commonwealth Scholarships are available through all Australian universities. 

When you apply for one of the following scholarships, you will automatically be assessed against the eligibility criteria for all of the scholarships listed within the table. 

Where the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of grants available, the grants will be awarded in order of application submission.

Please click on the scholarship name for more information about the scholarship, including the eligibility and selection criteria. 

For students who currently have ongoing receipt of a Commonwealth Scholarship, please see our Ongoing Recipient section below for general information, ongoing eligibility requirements and payment information. 

Scholarship Name	Value	Career	When / Where to apply
Commonwealth Education Costs Indigenous (CECS-Indigenous)	$2,755 per annum up to 4 years(payment is made four times a year in SP2 and SP5)	Undergraduate	Applications via my Scholarships from 12 July to 11 Aug 2024
Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship Indigenous (CAS-Indigenous)	$5,512 per annum up to 4 years (payment is made four times a year in SP2 and SP5)	Undergraduate
Commonwealth Education Costs Indigenous Enabling (CECS-Indigenous Enabling)	$2,755 per annum up to 1 year(payment is made four times a year in SP2 and SP5)	UniSA College
Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship Indigenous Enabling (CAS-Indigenous Enabling)	$5,512 per annum up to 1 year(payment is made four times a year in SP2 and SP5)	UniSA College
Commonwealth Education Costs Postgraduate Scholarship (CECS-PG)	$2,755 per annum up to 2 years(payment is made four times a year in SP2 and SP5)	Postgraduate

 

Commonwealth Education Costs Indigenous (CECS-Indigenous)

CECS Indigenous provide students with A$2,755 a year for up to four years to assist with general study costs.

Eligibility and selection criteria:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Meet the low socio-economic status criterion.
  • Students must be able to substantiate claims of financial hardship. One of the ways that you can verify financial disadvantage is by showing that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink Benefit (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy), and/or a Health Care Card. Not all Centrelink benefits are means-tested.
• Be enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student in an eligible UniSA undergraduate program as a Commonwealth supported student (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003)
• Meet the full-time student requirements.
  • Students must be enrolled as a full-time student for the duration of the scholarship period to be eligible (minimum 75% load or minimum 13.5 units for the half year). There are two scholarship periods for Commonwealth Scholarship:
    • From 1 January to 30 June, and
    • July to 31 December
  • Some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).
• Students are not eligible for CECS-Indigenous or CAS-Indigenous if they have already received CECS, or CAS, or CECS-Indigenous, or CAS-Indigenous for the maximum duration (equivalent of eight scholarship periods).

How to apply: my Scholarships

Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship Indigenous (CAS-Indigenous)

CACS Indigenous provide students who have moved from regional or remote areas to undertake their university studies with A$5,512 a year for up to four years to assist with accommodation and study costs.

Eligibility and selection criteria:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Meet the low socio-economic status criterion.
  • Students must be able to substantiate claims of financial hardship. One of the ways that you can verify financial disadvantage is by showing that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink Benefit (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy), and/or a Health Care Card. Not all Centrelink benefits are means-tested.
• Be enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student in an eligible UniSA undergraduate program as a Commonwealth supported student (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003)
• Meet the full-time student requirements.
  • Students must be enrolled as a full-time student for the duration of the scholarship period to be eligible (minimum 75% load or minimum 13.5 units for the half year). There are two scholarship periods for Commonwealth Scholarship:
    • From 1 January to 30 June, and
    • July to 31 December
  • Some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).
• Students are not eligible for CECS-Indigenous or CAS-Indigenous if they have already received CECS, or CAS, or CECS-Indigenous, or CAS-Indigenous for the maximum duration (equivalent of eight scholarship periods).
• Other additional requirements

How to apply: my Scholarships

Commonwealth Education Costs Indigenous Enabling (CECS-Indigenous Enabling)

CECS Indigenous Enabling provides A$2,755 a year for up to one year to assist with the costs of studying an eligible enabling course.

Eligibility and selection criteria:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Meet the low socio-economic status criterion.
  • Students must be able to substantiate claims of financial hardship. One of the ways that you can verify financial disadvantage is by showing that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink Benefit (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy), and/or a Health Care Card. Not all Centrelink benefits are means-tested.
• Be enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student in an eligible UniSA College program, either full-time or part-time.
  • If part-time, if you wish to progress to another form of Commonwealth Scholarships, then students must meet the full-time requirement
  • Some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).
• Students are not eligible for CECS-Indigenous Enabling or CAS-Indigenous Enabling if they have already received a CECS-Indigenous Enabling or CAS-Indigenous Enabling for the maximum duration (equivalent of two scholarships periods).

How to apply: my Scholarships

Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship Indigenous Enabling (CAS-Indigenous Enabling)

CAS Indigenous Enabling provides A$5,512 a year for up to one year to assist with the costs of rural/remote students who must relocate to access an eligible enabling course.

Eligibility and selection criteria:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Meet the low socio-economic status criterion.
  • Students must be able to substantiate claims of financial hardship. One of the ways that you can verify financial disadvantage is by showing that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink Benefit (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy), and/or a Health Care Card. Not all Centrelink benefits are means-tested.
• Be enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student in an eligible UniSA College program, either full-time or part-time.
  • If part-time, if you wish to progress to another form of Commonwealth Scholarships, then students must meet the full-time requirement
  • Some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).
• Students are not eligible for CECS-Indigenous Enabling or CAS-Indigenous Enabling if they have already received a CECS-Indigenous Enabling or CAS-Indigenous Enabling for the maximum duration (equivalent of two scholarships periods).
• Other additional requirements

Please note, some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).

How to apply: my Scholarships

Commonwealth Education Costs Postgraduate Scholarship (CECS-PG)

CECS-PG provides students with A$2,755 a year for up to two years to assist with general study costs.

Eligibility and selection criteria:

• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Meet the low socio-economic status criterion.
  • Students must be able to substantiate claims of financial hardship. One of the ways that you can verify financial disadvantage is by showing that you are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink Benefit (e.g. Youth Allowance, Austudy, Abstudy), and/or a Health Care Card. Not all Centrelink benefits are means-tested.
• Be enrolled as a Commonwealth supported student in an eligible UniSA program (as defined in the Higher Education Support Act 2003) or a graduate diploma (or equivalent postgraduate course of study) in an area of National Priority required for initial registration to practice in the chosen National Priority.
• Meet the full-time student requirements.
  • Students must be enrolled as a full-time student for the duration of the scholarship period to be eligible (minimum 75% load or minimum 13.5 units for the half year). There are two scholarship periods for Commonwealth Scholarship:
    • From 1 January to 30 June, and
    • July to 31 December
  • Some students may be deemed full-time in exceptional circumstances (e.g. students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities).
• Students are not eligible for CECS-Indigenous or CAS-Indigenous if they have already received CECS, or CAS, or CECS-Indigenous, or CAS-Indigenous for the maximum duration (equivalent of eight scholarship periods).

Priority will be given to students who have moved from regional or remote areas for the purpose of study.

How to apply:  my Scholarships

Additional CAS requirements

In addition to the basic eligibility requirements and specific eligibility requirements described above for a student to be eligible for CAS-Indigenous, and CAS-Indigenous Enabling scholarship UniSA must be satisfied that:

• within the four years immediately preceding the commencement of the current higher education program of study, the student:
  • has lived in a regional or remote area of Australia for a total of at least three years OR
  • completed the final two years of schooling in a high school or college in a regional or remote area OR
  • moved away from a regional or remote home to complete the whole or the majority of their secondary schooling at a high school or college in a major city OR
  • has lived in a regional or remote area of Australia for a total of at least two years and relocated from the regional or remote area to undertake vocational education and training (e.g. TAFE) for a maximum of two years duration immediately preceding commencement of their undergraduate course
• it was necessary for the student to move from the regional or remote area in order to undertake their higher education study; or in the case of paragraph (a. iii) and iv)) above, it was necessary for the student to remain in a major city in order to undertake their higher education study
• as a result of (b), the student will incur additional accommodation costs
• the student is enrolled as an internal student in a unit of study that forms part of the program of study the student is undertaking. Some students may have exceptional circumstances preventing them from enrolling in any internal units. Some students enrolled externally may be deemed eligible in exceptional circumstances. For example, students with a disability or significant carer responsibilities.

In determining a student's eligibility for a CAS, UniSA will determine whether the student has lived in a rural or regional area consistent with the Australian Bureau of Statistic's ASGC Remoteness Areas classification.  The classifications are:

• Major Cities of Australia (MC)
• Inner Regional Australia (IR)
• Outer Regional Australia (OR)
• Remote Australia (R)
• Very Remote Australia (VR)

Check the classification of your home postcode

A student who has come from a locality classed as belonging to the Major Cities of Australia class will be deemed ineligible for a CAS.

Discipline Specific

The following scholarships are open only to students who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and who are enrolled in a program within a relevant discipline.

Please click on the scholarship name for more information about the scholarship, including the eligibility and selection criteria. 

Scheme Name	Discipline	Value	Career
Aboriginal Transition Grant	UniSA College	$5,000	Undergraduate (following completion of UniSA College Studies)
ACER Aboriginal Student Undergraduate Grant	Education	$9,000	Undergraduate
ACER Aboriginal Student Postgraduate Grant	Education	$4,000	Postgraduate
Arun Thomas Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Scholarship	All	Up to $1,000	Undergraduate and Postgraduate
BAE Systems Australia First Nations Scholarship in Engineering	Engineering	Up to $40,000	Undergraduate
Shirley Harper Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship in Education	Education	$4,000 per annum (up to 4 years)	Undergraduate
UniSA Business Aboriginal Scholarship	Business, Commerce, Law	$6,000 per annum (up to 5 years)	Undergraduate
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander MBA Scholarship	Business Administration	refer to scholarship details	Postgraduate
Dr Alitya Rigney High-Achieving Aboriginal Undergraduate Scholarship	Justice & Society	Up to $16,000	Undergraduate
GO Foundation Aboriginal Scholarship	All	Up to $24,000	Undergraduate
Gladys Elphick Memorial Scholarship	Health Science	$5,000	Undergraduate
National Pharmacies Aboriginal Student Community Pharmacy Placement Scholarship	Pharmaceutical Science, Pharmacy	$15,000	Undergraduate
Scholz Vinall Aboriginal Architecture Scholarship	Architectural Studies, Architecture (Master), Interior Architecture	Up to $15,000	Undergraduate and Postgraduate
Trevor Nickolls Aboriginal Student Art Grant	Contemporary Art, Art and Design	Up to $8,000	Undergraduate
UniSA Aboriginal Pathway Program Grant	UniSA College	$1000	UniSA College Studies
UniSA Aboriginal Supplementary Grant	All	$TBD	All

Aboriginal Transition Grant

The Aboriginal Transition Grant recognises and encourages students who have completed UniSA’s Aboriginal Pathway Program (APP) to transition to undergraduate studies in UniSA.

This grant is open to all Aboriginal Pathway Program (APP) students either full-time or part-time who will complete APP in the current year and enrol in an undergraduate program in UniSA in the immediate subsequent year. The grant is also open to students who have completed APP in the current year and commenced study in an undergraduate program.

Students are not required to apply for the grant. UniSA College will identify the eligible students and advise the Scholarships Office. The Scholarships Office will offer the grant if there is proven current or future enrolment.

Value: Once off payment of $5‚000