Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships

The Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships are provided by the Australian Government and offered to Indigenous students who are enrolling in an undergraduate or graduate coursework course.

Application type

No application is required. You will be automatically considered for this award.

Benefit type

General allowance
Full benefit details

Citizenship requirements

Australian / domestic student

Total value

$8,000 - $28,000

Applicable study areas

All study areas

Number of scholarships awarded

Approximately 50

  • Eligibility & selection criteria

    Eligibility

    To be eligible for this scholarship, you must:

    • be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander decent, identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, and be accepted as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander by the community in which they live, or formerly lived.
    • have applied for a University of Melbourne undergraduate degree via the VTAC Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS)
    • meet the entry requirements for the University of Melbourne course nominated in your VTAC application.

    Selection criteria

    Where the number of eligible students exceeds the number of ICECS and ICAS available, preference is given to students from remote or regional areas and student who are financially disadvantaged.

    Conditions

    The Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships are subject to the Coursework Scholarships Terms & Conditions and can be deferred to the following academic year.

    You cannot be awarded an Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarship if you are in receipt of other Commonwealth assistance given for the same purpose.

  • Application process

    Students who have applied for Access Melbourne using the VTAC Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS) will be automatically considered for the Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships and will be invited to submit an additional online form to confirm additional eligibility requirements.

  • When will I know the outcome?

    All applicants will be notified of the outcome via email in February.

  • Variations of this award

    The Indigenous Commonwealth Scholarships consist of:

    • Indigenous Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (ICES) to assist students with education, teaching and training costs.
    • Indigenous Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (ICAS) to assist with relocation and/or accommodation costs.

What are the benefits?

The Indigenous Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (ICECS) scholarship provides:

  • An allowance of $3,000 per year for four years for recent school leavers,
  • An allowance of $7,000 per year for four years for non-school leavers, or
  • A one-off allowance of $1,000 for graduate students

The Indigenous Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (ICAS) provides:

  • An allowance of $2,000 per year for four years for students who will relocate to Melbourne from within Victoria
  • An allowance of $4,000 per year for four years for student who will relocate to Melbourne from outside Victoria

The scholarships can be held concurrently with other scholarships.

Interested in a scholarship? Register now

Get more on scholarships and other information to help you succeed at the University of Melbourne.

or call 13 MELB (13 6352)
International: +61 3 9035 5511

For complete listings of faculty-specific scholarships, please see individual faculty websites.

The information listed here is subject to change without notice. Where we have listed information about jointly run scholarships programs, please also see our partners' websites. Information describing the number and value of scholarships awarded is indicative.