Supporting documentation

If you receive income support from Centrelink or the Department of Veteran Affairs, you will need to provide a copy of an income statement dated within the last three months. 

The statement should include:

• your full name
• the benefit you are receiving and amount

The following information should be redacted from the statement:

• your Customer Reference Number (CRN)

Eligible benefits include:

• Youth Allowance
• JobSeeker Payment
• Austudy
• ABSTUDY
• Disability Support Pension
• Carer Payment
• Parenting Payment - maximum payment rate only

Please note that Family Tax Benefits A and B, JobKeeper and Carer Allowance are not considered eligible within this category. If you receive one of these income supports, you will also need to include copies of your last three payslips and your Notice of Assessment for the previous financial year.

If you receive a Parenting Payment, a copy of your current low-income health care card is preferred. If your most recent income statement clearly shows that you receive the maximum payment rate, you can also provide this evidence. 

If your statement does not show that you receive the maximum rate for Parenting Payment and you do not have a current low-income health care card, you will also need to include copies of your last three payslips and your Notice of Assessment for the previous financial year.

To ensure you are providing appropriate evidence of your Centrelink income support payments, please view our examples of eligible (PDF, 177KB) and ineligible (PDF, 302KB) evidence.

If you have an Australian Government low-income health care card, you will need to provide a copy of the front of the card. 

Eligible cards are:

• Centrelink Health Care Card
• Department of Veteran Affairs Health Card

The card should include:

• your full name
• the card's expiry date (must be current)
• the code for the type of benefit you receive (i.e., AUS, ABS, DSP, JSP, YA - for Health Care Cards only)

The following information should be redacted from the card:

• your Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• the name(s) of anyone else on the card

To ensure you are providing appropriate evidence of your card, please view our examples of eligible (PDF, 211KB) and ineligible (PDF, 236KB) evidence.

If your household has a combined annual income of $78,260 or less and you do not receive any eligible Centrelink benefits, you can still provide evidence that you are experiencing financial hardship. Please visit the Department of Human Services income test if you have dependent children, as this may increase the allowed combined income.

You must:

• Explain why you are not receiving Centrelink benefits;
• Provide Notice of Assessments from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for the 2022-2023 financial year for ALL the people earning an income in your household; AND 
• Provide the last three payslips for ALL of the people earning an income in your household

Notice of assessments and payslips should include:

• your full name
• your income details

The following information should be redacted:

• your Tax File Number (TFN)

These documents should be collated into a single document either in a ZIP file, within a Word document, or as a single PDF.

Income ready statements and PAYG (pay as you go) summaries will not be accepted as evidence.

In exceptional circumstances (sale of a family business; death of a parent; etc.), parts of this evidence may not be accessible to you during the application period. If this is the case, we may accept a statutory declaration. Please contact the Coursework Scholarships Office prior to submission for advice.

To ensure you are providing appropriate evidence of your financial hardship, please view our examples of eligible (PDF, 258KB) and ineligible (PDF, 183KB) evidence.

If you have an annual income of $45,630 or less and you do not receive any eligible Centrelink benefits, you can still provide evidence that you are experiencing financial hardship. Please visit the Department of Human Services income test if you have dependent children, as this may increase the allowed income.

You must:

• Explain why you are not receiving Centrelink benefits;
• Provide a Notice of Assessment from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for the 2022-23 financial year; AND
• Provide your last three payslips

Notice of assessments and payslips should include:

• your full name
• your income details

The following information should be redacted:

• your Tax File Number (TFN)

These documents should be collated into a single document either in a ZIP file, within a Word document, or as a single PDF.

Income ready statements and PAYG (pay as you go) summaries will not be accepted as evidence.

To ensure you are providing appropriate evidence of your financial hardship, please view our examples of eligible (PDF, 258KB) and ineligible (PDF, 182KB) evidence.

The following documents can be used as evidence: 

• A copy of your Australian Permanent Humanitarian Visa
• A copy of your Visa Grant Notice 
• A copy of your Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) check
• A copy of your Document for travel to Australia
• Refugee documentation from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection/Department of Home Affairs

An ImmiCard is not able to be accepted as evidence for this category.

Refugee evidence should include:

• your full name
• your visa subclass (i.e., 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 866)

The following information should be redacted:

• application ID/file number
• visa grant number
• ImmiCard number
• passport number

To ensure you are providing appropriate evidence as a current or former refugee, please view our examples of eligible (PDF, 258KB) and ineligible (PDF, 182KB) evidence.

See Indigenous eligibility for more information.

If you are experiencing personal/family/social difficulties that impact your ability to study and you wish for it to be considered as part of your scholarship application, the following documents can be used as evidence:

• A supporting statement written by someone in a position of authority who is qualified to comment on your circumstances, i.e., teacher, lawyer, accountant, health care provider, community or religious leader, police or law enforcement member (it should not be written by you or a family member/friend)

In order to be considered, the supporting statement must:

• be detailed and specific about the difficult circumstances and the impact on your education
• be dated
• include contact details for the person who has written the statement
• include the signature of the author 

It is preferred that the supporting statement is written on official letterhead and uploaded as a PDF.

While we prefer supporting documents to be no more than three months old, we understand that some life events have long-ranging consequences. For example, a student who has been a victim of a crime may submit a police report from a number of years ago. This evidence would of course be accepted.

If you are unsure about what circumstances or time-frame might be considered within this category, please contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.

The following documents can be used as evidence:

• Documentation from the Department of Human Services; 
• Documentation from your out-of-home care provider; or
• A letter written by someone in a position of authority who is qualified to comment on your circumstances, i.e., teacher, social worker, GP/counsellor/health care provider, lawyer, community or religious leader, police or law enforcement member (it should not be written by you or a family member/friend).

Evidence must:

• use your full name
• discuss your circumstances
• be dated; and
• be either on official letterhead OR contain an original signature and contact details for the person who has written the letter (PDF preferred)

If you are unable to provide this documentation, please contact the Coursework Scholarships Office for alternative options.

If you must study part-time (rather than choosing to because of work commitments, credit exemptions or preference), you can provide current evidence (dated within the last three months) to support reasons why you are unable to study full-time, i.e., a copy of a detailed letter from your health care provider or evidence of Centrelink Carer or dependent payments.

If you are unsure about what circumstances might be considered within this category, please contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.