The Equity Rural Placement Scholarship Program is an initiative to provide financial assistance to students experiencing financial hardship to undertake placements/work integrated learning activities in rural and remote settings.

Approved applications will be awarded scholarships up to $1500.

Funding is provided to assist students with the out-of-pocket costs incurred as a direct result of the placement. These are costs which are additional to everyday living expenses and are incurred as a direct result of a placement requiring relocation, including:

• Travel costs,
• Accommodation.

Student Eligibility

In order to receive a scholarship, applicants must meet the following preliminary eligibility criteria:  

• Experiencing financial hardship. You are in financial hardship if you have difficulties meeting your everyday living expenses with the income that you receive. If you are successful, you will be required to provide supporting evidence of your financial situation.  
• From institutions that are unlimited institutional members of NAFEA (see https://nafea.org.au/membership/unlimited-institution-members/ for a list of current unlimited institutional members. The institution must have an active membership for the relevant scholarship year). 
• Currently enrolled as a full-time or part-time student. 
• If enrolled in an undergraduate degree, be in at least the second year of the undergraduate course to apply. 
• Agree to provide a report on the experience which is suitable for publication on the NAFEA website and in the NAFEA newsletter within one month of the placement ending. 
• Be willing to participate in evaluation studies or surveys. 
• Not be a previous recipient of a NAFEA scholarship 

Placement Eligibility

The WIL placement must be:  

• Either commencing, or having the majority of the placement taking place, between: 

• • Round 1: 1 January – 30 June 
  • Round 2: 1 July – 31 December 

• Fulltime (4-5 days per week of at least six hours per day) 
• A minimum of three weeks/12 days duration. If undertaking multiple shorter placements, all placements must be a cumulative of 12 days and relocation required for all placements.  
• Within Australia 
• Undertaken in an outer regional, remote or very remote location which requires relocation and is at least 100 kilometres from your usual place of residence. Regional and Remote Locations are defined as RA3-RA5 using Australia Bureau of Statistics remoteness classifications- ASGS Remoteness Areas (2016). You should check if your placement meets this requirement by searching the locator, click here.  For a guide on how to use the locator, click here. 

Students must complete an online application form. Application forms can be completed and submitted via www.nafea.org.au once the scholarship round has opened. 

Applications must include:  

• The placement details (including dates and agency/industry partner name). This can be a confirmed placement or a proposed placement.
• University placement administrator details.
• Referee contact details for a personal reference. 
• An estimate of the student’s weekly expenses and income. 
• An estimate of the student’s out-of-pocket costs for the placement (these are costs that will be incurred as a direct result of the rural placement and are additional to your everyday living expenses). 
• Declaration of other sources of funding or grants that have been awarded in support of the proposed rural placement. 
• Brief statement of up to 1500 characters (300-400 words) on how this scholarship will positively impact your participation in your regional/rural/remote placement and your longer-term career aspirations. In your response, you should include the financial impact as well as the skills and experiences that you anticipate you will gain from the placement. 

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants will be sent an automated acknowledgement receipt when applications are received. Applications must be submitted to, and received by NAFEA, by Midnight (AEST) on the advertised closing date. 

Preference will be given to applications from students: 

• who have not received any other forms of funding or assistance (e.g. supplied accommodation). 
• with significant out-of-pocket costs 
• undertaking placements in more remote areas. 

NAFEA scholarships are only awarded to individual students once. Candidates who have been successful previously are not eligible to re-apply. Any unsuccessful applicant for the scholarship is entitled to reapply for the scholarship in the following round and will be assessed against the program guidelines and criteria that are in effect on the date the re-application is received by NAFEA. Candidates cannot reapply for the same placement in a future round. 

The NAFEA Scholarship Committee will assess and rank all applications, liaise with applicant’s institutional WIL areas and provide a recommended shortlist to the NAFEA Management Committee. The NAFEA Management Committee will have final approval of the shortlisted applications. 

Step 2: 

All shortlisted applicants will be required to provide:  

• Evidence of financial hardship includes (but not limited to):
  • proof of income, such as: 
    • Centrelink statement
    • payslips covering the past 2 months 
    • most recent financial year Australian Taxation Notice of Assessment 
    • income deposits for the past 2 months on your bank statement. Note: If you are partnered or dependent on and/or living with parents/caregivers, you will also need to provide evidence of partner or parental (or family) income 
    • your current bank balances 

• Evidence of additional expenses, such as quotes or bills demonstrating additional placement costs, particularly transport and accommodation costs. 
• Confirmation in writing from their institution’s WIL/Field Experience Officer of the placement details (incl. dates and allocated agency) 
• Confirmation of travel budget and supporting documents for their out-of-pocket costs (if applicable) 

NAFEA may use its discretion to decline a scholarship if it feels that the student does not meet the eligibility and intention of the scholarship scheme. 

The NAFEA Scholarship Committee will seek confirmation from your referee (as per the details on your application) that they support your scholarship application. NAFEA may use its discretion to decline a scholarship if a referee does not support the awarding of the scholarship. 

The NAFEA Scholarship Committee will assess and rank the shortlisted applicants and where necessary seek advice from the applicants’ institutions to make a final recommendation of successful applicants and funding amounts to the NAFEA Management Committee. 

Successful applicants will be given a conditional offer. Students who do not receive a conditional offer may receive an offer at a later date if funding becomes available from a student declining, withdrawing or not meeting the eligibility criteria of their conditional offer, this will be at the discretion of the NAFEA Scholarship Committee. 

 Step 3: 

 A  conditional offer is provisionally awarded to an applicant based on the information provided in the application form. Students will need to complete the scholarship acceptance form and meet the requirements of the scholarship prior to receiving funds. 

Disclaimer: All decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into. NAFEA does not accept appeals to its decisions. 

Since the beginning of the scholarship program in 2017, NAFEA has awarded over $118,000 worth of scholarships to 96 students across 16 institutions.