Paul Tomkinson Scholarship in Surveying

This scholarship provides up to $10,000 per year ($5,000 per semester) for up to four years. 

Should a recipient be a vocational education student (Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma), the scholarship will continue with them if they continue into the next level of study and meet the scholarship’s terms and conditions.

One scholarship available.

To be eligible for this scholarship you must:

• be an Australian or New Zealand citizen, an Australian permanent resident or a permanent humanitarian visa holder
• be enrolling full-time in semester 1 2026 in one of the following programs:
  • Advanced Diploma of Surveying (C6175)
  • Bachelor of Surveying (Honours) (BH116)
  • Diploma of Surveying (C5416)
  • Certificate IV in Surveying and Spatial Information Services (C4417)
• be able to demonstrate circumstance/s which impact your ability to study such as:
  • receiving a government tested low income benefit or having a Centrelink Health Care Card 
  • be able to demonstrate circumstance/s which impact your ability to study such as: 
  • living with a disability, long-term medical condition or identify as neurodiverse
  • experiencing personal/family/social difficulties 
  • be from an interstate or rural/regional area and moving/moved to Melbourne to study at RMIT 
  • have previously/are currently living in foster/kinship care or are a ward of the state 
  • be from an under-represented background such as 
    • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander 
    • were born overseas, are from a non-English background and recently migrated to Australia 
    • current or former refugee 
    • completed secondary school at a School Network Access Program school 

Preference will be given to rural and regional students.

It is preferred that you apply direct to RMIT for this scholarship.

Direct to RMIT applications

The link to the application form will be provided here once applications open.

VTAC applications

Apply online through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) website (www.vtac.edu.au). 

Supporting documentation

Depending on your circumstances, you will need to provide different types of evidence and material to support your scholarship application. Applications without supporting documents will not be considered.

If you are a current or former refugee, you will need a copy of your: 

• permanent humanitarian visa or Australian Permanent Humanitarian Visa; or
• Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) check; or
• refugee documentation from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection/Department of Home Affairs.

Please visit Supporting Your Application for more information.

Application questions

If you are shortlisted for the scholarship, you will be contacted to answer further application questions. Please check the email address you nominate in your scholarship application form at least twice per week. It is expected that the online application will take approximately thirty minutes to complete. We anticipate that these will be the questions:

• What motivated you to choose your RMIT program? Include the steps you have taken to achieve your educational goals.
• What are your future plans and career aspirations?
• What current challenges do you face in your studies and how will a scholarship help you to overcome this?

Find out more about applying for scholarships.

Applications opening 1 August 2025.

Applications close 2:00PM Friday 17 October 2025. No late applications will be accepted.

View the Coursework Scholarships Office’s terms and conditions (PDF, 698KB).

Paul Tomkinson was born in Pascoe Vale in 1942. The eldest of 9 children he was the first in his family to attend university. He trained at RMIT to become a land surveyor – he always said he wanted a job that meant being out and about in the world and the fresh air. He commenced his land-surveying career with the Commonwealth Forestry Commission in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). After four years working in PNG he and his wife Kathleen moved to Bendigo with their four children,  becoming involved and committed Bendigonians. Paul dedicated his time to the local community in various capacities — as a Councillor, Mayor, and member of various tennis, golf, pony and football clubs in the local are

Paul established Tomkinson in 1973 as a licensed surveyor, to serve the growing land development needs of regional Victoria. What started as a one-room surveying service quickly expanded to incorporate civil engineering and project management and town planning. The company now offers urban and regional, statutory and strategic planning, architectural oversight, land surveying and civil engineering, as well as an established network of complimentary expert consultants and the capacity to coordinate complete project management across the development industry.

Paul was actively involved in Tomkinson on the board and in a mentoring capacity until his death at 78 in 2021. The company is now in the owner- and-Directorship of his eldest daughter, Andrea Tomkinson (planner) and her close colleague John Guise (engineer). John and Andrea have established this scholarship in recognition of Paul’s passion for regional towns and their people, his insistence on excellence and his commitment to all the things he loved.

Find out how to contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.