Indigenous Residential Accommodation Scholarship

This Indigenous Residential Accommodation Scholarship supports Indigenous Australian students at Swinburne University, experiencing low income, financial hardship or from a regional or remote area to live in on-campus accommodation at Swinburne’s Hawthorn Campus.

Successful applicants will have their full accommodation fees waived at Swinburne’s Hawthorn Campus, for each enrolled year of study for a maximum of four years.

Any of the following courses at Swinburne University of Technology:

• Diploma / Advanced Diploma
• UniLink Diploma
• Associate degree
• Undergraduate degree
• Postgraduate degree

To be eligible for the Indigenous Residential Accommodation Scholarship applicants must:

1. Meet the following criteria:
   • Be an Australian citizen
   • Confirm you are of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander heritage by submitting a Confirmation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Heritage certificate (COA) with your scholarship application or a certified Statutory Declaration declaring that the individual applying for the scholarship is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, and/or is accepted as such by the community in which you live, or formerly lived. 
2. Meet the following enrolment criteria:
   • be a Swinburne student in 2024
   • enrolled full-time in an eligible course (see courses eligible in section above)
   • studying on campus
3. A written statement (max. 500 words) or short video (no more than 2 minutes) addressing the following points:
   • your aspirations for attending Swinburne University
   • how this scholarship will help you achieve your educational goals and aspirations for the future
      
   • Please upload your video to cloud based storage and provide a link in an MS Word or PDF document. The video must be downloadable by anyone - provide any passwords if necessary.
4. Provide evidence of educational disadvantage. Disadvantage(s) may include: 
   • financial difficulty or low-socio economic status (Centrelink statement, payslips)
   • disability or medical condition
   • relocation from a rural or regional area in order to undertake tertiary study
   • first in family to attend university 
5. Provide one written referee report outlining your suitability for the scholarship:
   • can be supplied by a community leader, teacher, lecturer or employer
6. Applicants are required to engage with the Moondani Toombadool Centre (MTC) at the commencement of your studies and sign up to MTC's Indigenous Academic Success Program (IASP) at the beginning of each semester of study.
   • Provide evidence of the above by submitting a Letter of Engagement from a Moondani Toombadool Centre Indigenous Student Advisor. Students are required to meet with an Indigenous Student Advisor to obtain letter.

The scholarship provides a 100% accommodation fee waiver at Hawthorn campus, for each successfully enrolled year of study, for a maximum of four years.

A $500 bond, paid by the student, will be required to guarantee your place within the Swinburne Residential Accommodation.

This scholarship is not available to students receiving Indigenous Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (ICAS) scholarships.

Please note - It is the student’s responsibility to notify Centrelink or any other government body of any changes to personal income that might affect government payments received. 

Applicants should complete an online application form and submit with all supporting documentation.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. For assistance when completing your application, please view the Scholarship Application Help Guide.

Fees and Scholarships Team, Student Administration.
scholarship@swin.edu.au