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NSW Rural Allied Health Postgraduate Scholarships

Requirements | Eligible courses | Eligible area | Further information

Scholarships are available to permanent fulltime or part time allied health clinicians employed and currently working in a rural located public health service, to assist with educational expenses directly associated with post-graduate study. In 2012 the scholarships were valued at up to $10,000 dependent on the course undertaken.

Requirements

To be eligible for a scholarship you must:

1. Be an employee of, and based at, a rural located public sector health service within a NSW Local Health District (including temporary employees who been working for the health service for at least 12 months).
2. Possess an undergraduate/graduate entry qualification in one of the following allied health disciplines:
   
   • Aboriginal Health
   • Audiology
   • Diagnostic Radiography
   • Dietetics
   • Exercise Physiology
   • Genetic Counselling
   • Hospital Laboratory Science
   • Nuclear Medicine
   • Occupational Therapy
   • Oral Health (excl Dentistry)
   • Orthoptics
   • Orthotics / Prosthetics
   • Pharmacy
   • Physiotherapy
   • Podiatry
   • Psychology
   • Radiation Therapy
   • Social Work
   • Speech Pathology
   
   OR
   Be employed as an allied health assistant or employed in a recognised allied health role eg. welfare worker.
    
3. Be an Australian citizen or have permanent residence.
4. Demonstrate a commitment to rural allied health practice and education.
5. Be currently enrolled or planning to enrol in further studies at approved Australian University.
6. Not be in receipt of any other scholarship or funding assistance (valued at more than $6,000) for this course of study. Recipients of the Australian Rural and Remote Health Professional Scholarship of the Mental Health Post-Graduate Scholarship are not eligible.

Eligible courses

• Single Subjects: Clinicians can apply for funding to undertake a single subject offered by a tertiary institution relevant to their current work.
• Undergraduate Degrees: Applications for scholarships for undergraduate degrees would generally only be considered where the applicant does not currently have a tertiary qualification and is seeking to obtain a qualification relevant to their employment eg welfare worker undertaking a course in social work.
• Post-Graduate Certificate
• Post-Graduate Diploma
• Masters Degree
• PhD
  

Only single subjects or courses offered by a tertiary institution recognised under the Higher Education Act 2001, or equivalent courses offered by organisations registered and accredited for the delivery of higher education courses, are eligible.

Short courses and conferences are not eligible for funding under this program.

Eligible area

The rural Local Health Districts are:

• Far West
• Mid North Coast
• Murrumbidgee
• Northern NSW
• Southern NSW
• Western NSW
• Hunter New England (excluding: Cessnock, Maitland, Port Stephens, Newcastle, and Lake Macquarie LGA)
• Illawarra Shoalhaven (excluding: Kiama, and Shellharbour LGA)
• Nepean Blue Mountains (Lithgow LGA only)

A map is able to be found at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/rural/alliedhealth/map.asp

Clinicians providing outreach services from a metropolitan centre are not eligible.

Income tax advice

Generally, scholarship funding provided to part-time students, regardless of their employment status is not considered to be tax-exempt income. Applicants will need to seek independent advice regarding their personal circumstances where necessary.

Further information