Australia Awards South and West Asia

You can apply for an activity grant to undertake professional development opportunities that will take place in Australia between August 2021 and February 2022. Examples of eligible opportunities include attending a conference, event, online course or workshop.

The value of an activity grant will be up to AUD 1500.

You will need to find an appropriate opportunity that aligns with one of the themes outlined in the Assessment Criteria and clearly enhances your Development Impact Plan.

You will need to provide details of the activity (including cost, duration and location) as part of your application.

In addition to the general eligibility criteria below, to apply for an activity grant you must:

• ensure that you can complete the activity within your Scholarship period
• agree to arrange all logistics required for you to participate in the nominated activity.
• commit to submitting a completion report along with a summary of the activity/ event, relevant photos, and quotes as required.

Please note that the Australia Awards team will not find an appropriate activity for you.

You can apply for an internship grant to be placed as an intern at a suitable organisation in Australia.

You will need to describe in your application the type of internship you would like to undertake but are not required to find the internship opportunity.

The value of an internship grant will be up to AUD 2000. This includes up to AUD 500 for your own costs (for example, the cost of transport to the internship location or of purchasing professional attire).

If your application is successful, you will be assessed and placed in a suitable internship by a third-party provider contracted by Australia Awards. For this service, the third-party provider will receive AUD1500 for each internship grant. The assessment and placement process can take up to 3 months to complete.

In addition to the general eligibility criteria below, to apply for an internship grant you must:

• have a study end date of December 2021 or later
• follow the instructions of the third-party provider and follow all guidelines and requirements for the internship
• commit to completing the internship within 6 months of being offered a position.

Additional notes about internships

• You will not be paid by the organisation where you undertake your internship.
• Due to current restrictions in Australia, internships are not available for the following: any lab work (healthcare, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, etc.), healthcare professions (medical, veterinary, dentistry, etc.), aerospace and aeronautical engineering, oil or petroleum industries, legal professions or government security industries.

You must complete and submit your application through the Australia Awards – South Asia online application portal.

To register on the portal, enter your details on the registration page and click ‘Register’. A confirmation email will be sent to your nominated email address. You must click the link in this email to activate your account. If you do not receive this email within 5–10 minutes of registering, please check your spam or junk email folder. If you are unable to find the confirmation email, or have any queries regarding the application portal, please email support.portal@australiaawardssouthasia.org and ensure that you provide the email address that you registered with.

If you have registered on the application portal before and cannot remember your password, you can reset your password or register with a different email address.

After registering and logging in, you can apply for either an activity grant or an internship grant. You may only apply for one grant per academic year. You can save the application at certain points so you can come back to it multiple times. Once you complete your application, click ‘Submit’. You will receive a confirmation email after you have submitted your application.

We will contact you in July 2021 to let you know whether your application was successful.

We may ask you to take photographs or provide information regarding the progress of your grant for review or promotional purposes.

You must submit a Completion Report within two weeks of completing your activity or internship. It must include a brief reflection on your activity or internship and a description of any short- and long-term impacts, challenges faced, and lessons learnt. We will provide a template for this report.

If you receive a grant, you will be required to sign a Grant Agreement.

As a grant recipient, you will be required to attend a Fraud Management Briefing delivered by Australia Awards – South Asia, either face-to-face or online, before you receive any funds.

Where possible, payments will be made directly to an organising entity or against an invoice or receipt. For example, if you apply to attend an online workshop, where possible your registration fees will be paid directly by Australia Awards – South Asia. If the cost can be invoiced, then that invoice should be addressed to Scope Global Pty Ltd for payment.

If funds are transferred directly to you, you will receive 70% of the grant amount after you have signed the Grant Agreement and attended the mandatory Fraud Management Briefing. You will receive the remaining 30% of the grant amount after you have submitted the Completion Report. The grant funds will be paid via bank transfer to a valid Australian bank account. You will be responsible for the final acquittal of the funds.

Misuse of funds will be treated in accordance with DFAT’s Fraud Control Strategy. You should read DFAT’s Fraud Strategy Statement before applying for a grant.

Before you apply, please read all the information given above.

If you have questions or need further clarifications about this opportunity, please attend the upcoming virtual information session on Thursday, 3 June 2021, 3 to 4pm (ACST).

You can also email your questions to engagement@australiaawardssouthasia.org.