RSL Queensland Scholarships

RSL (Queensland Branch)’s charitable activities extend beyond those who have served or are serving in the Australian Defence Force to include their dependants, with the RSL Queensland Scholarship scheme providing funding to assist children of Australian veterans in achieving tertiary qualifications.

Launching in 2016, the RSL Queensland Scholarship program is managed by the Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust (AVCAT) on behalf of RSL (Queensland Branch). AVCAT is a national, independent charity helping the children and grandchildren of Australian veterans to a better future through education.

Thirty-five scholarships, worth $12,000 for each recipient and paid over three years, will be awarded in 2017 to successful applicants of the RSL Queensland Scholarship. Recipients will be determined on factors including merit, financial hardship and deservedness.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the RSL Queensland Scholarship, the following criteria applies:

Be the child or grandchild of an ex-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) member with either operational service (as defined by legislation) or three or more years continuous full-time other service. Priority will be given to immediate children of ex-serving ADF members;
Be the child or grandchild of an Australian Defence Force member with either operational service (as defined by legislation) or three or more years continuous full time other service whom is pending discharge. The ADF member must be completely discharged by the commencing date of the tertiary course;
Be planning to enrol, or be enrolled in the first year, of tertiary education, in an approved course at a University, TAFE college or registered training organisation;
Have Australian residency status, with priority provided to applicants who are living in Queensland and the course of choice is located in Queensland. Consideration may be given to applicants who are from Queensland but course of study is in another state or territory;
Be in specific circumstances related to financial need, health-related hardship, or other family or personal circumstances where these could prevent you from undertaking tertiary education without the assistance provided by the scholarship;
Be receiving or be eligible to receive Centrelink’s Youth Allowance or other Commonwealth benefits like Austudy or Abstudy;
Not be the recipient of any other educational scholarship or grant.

Ongoing eligibility criteria exist throughout the term of the scholarship, including achieving satisfactory academic progress. To read the full scholarship eligibility criteria, including ongoing assessment criteria, please refer to AVCAT.

How to Apply

Applications for the RSL Queensland Scholarship will open on the 18 August, 2016 and close on 31 October, 2016.
Application forms will be available from AVCAT on (02) 9213 7999 or via their website. In your application, you will need to include:

Information about yourself and the ex-serving ADF member you are related to, including service information and age;
Your academic results and background; and
Details about your family situation.

Apply Here

Application assessment process

All applications are co-ordinated and managed through the Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust (AVCAT). Applicants are assessed against specific criteria, including:

Personal circumstances that could prevent an applicant from undertaking tertiary education without the scholarship, such as financial need, family situation and other circumstances; and
Academic record including the applicant's prospects of successfully completing the chosen tertiary qualification.

In line with the eligibility criteria, the application assessment criteria will prioritise the most deserving applicants based on merit, financial need and deservedness. Mature aged students completing additional tertiary qualifications will be considered. They will have a lower priority to those under 25 years seeking to achieve a tertiary qualification which will allow them to enter the workforce in their chosen career.

Only courses of study from a University, TAFE college or registered training organisation will be accepted.

Application updates & funding

Successful applicants will be notified personally in early 2017. For updates on the process, visit the AVCAT website.
The scholarship will be paid to recipients in instalments managed through AVCAT and can be used towards educational expenses such as enrolment fees, textbooks and computer software.

DVA Entitlement information

We recommend you contact the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) directly if you have any queries regarding educational benefits and the impact on DVA entitlements of your related veteran. DVA contact details can be found at http://www.dva.gov.au/contact.

More information

For further information regarding the RSL Queensland Scholarship scheme, please contact the Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust:
Phone – (02) 9213 7999
Email – avcat@dva.gov.au
Website – www.avcat.org.au

RSL Queensland Scholarships