Between Selection and Departure
Getting the selection notification feels like crossing the finish line, but it is really just the start of a new process. The first thing you receive is a conditional offer. This is not your ticket to Australia. It means you have been selected in principle, subject to meeting several conditions that have not been checked yet: medical fitness, English proficiency, and visa eligibility. Only after you satisfy all of these does the formal written offer arrive.
Do not quit your job until you have the formal written offer in hand. This is advice that past scholars repeat constantly, and for good reason. The conditional offer can fall through. Medical exams can flag issues. English language requirements might not be met on the first attempt. People have resigned from positions, told their families, even started packing, only to have the process stall or reverse at the medical stage. Wait for the formal letter.
What you need to do before departure
You will be sent to a panel-approved physician. The examination is thorough and includes chest X-rays and blood work. Certain health conditions can disqualify you. This is not a formality; people do fail it.
Even if you submitted an IELTS score with your application, you may be assessed again to determine whether you need English language bridging before your main course starts. This is separate from the admission requirement.
The scholarship programme assists with your visa application, but you still need to meet all immigration requirements yourself. You will need a valid passport, your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), proof of Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), and evidence of your scholarship. The programme coordinates with the Department of Home Affairs, but delays can happen, so do not leave this to the last week.
This is mandatory. It is held in your home country, usually at the Australian embassy or high commission. You will be briefed on what to expect, your obligations as a scholar, the code of conduct, and practical matters like banking, accommodation, and health insurance. Skipping it is not an option.
Introductory Academic Program (IAP)
Not every scholar goes straight into their degree. If your English language skills need improvement, or if the scholarship programme determines that you would benefit from preparation in Australian academic culture, you will be assigned to the Introductory Academic Program, or IAP. This is not optional. If they assign you to it, you attend.
The IAP typically runs for four to six weeks, though in some cases it can stretch to six months depending on how much English language support you need. It is held in Australia at your host university or a partner institution, so you will arrive in the country earlier than scholars who go directly into their degree.
What the IAP covers
- Academic English: writing essays, referencing properly, understanding lectures delivered in fast Australian English
- Critical thinking and academic conventions in Australia (they differ from what you may be used to)
- Orientation to life in Australia: transport, banking, health services, cultural norms
- Meeting other scholars and building a support network before the pressure of coursework begins
Scholars who have been through the IAP generally say it was more useful than they expected. Even if your English is decent, Australian academic culture has its own quirks. Plagiarism rules are enforced aggressively. Professors expect you to challenge ideas in class rather than just absorb them. The IAP helps bridge that gap so you are not blindsided in your first semester.
Arriving in Australia
When you land, you receive an establishment allowance of approximately AUD $5,000. This is a one-off payment meant to cover the cost of setting yourself up: bond for a rental, household essentials, bedding, kitchenware, and whatever else you need to start living. It sounds like a lot until you realise that a rental bond alone can eat half of it.
Accommodation
The scholarship does not arrange housing for you. This is your responsibility. Most scholars share a house or flat with other students. University accommodation offices can help, but places fill up fast. Start looking before you arrive. Facebook groups for your city and university are useful.
Bank account
You will need an Australian bank account for your stipend payments. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ, and NAB are the big four. Some allow you to open an account online before arrival. Bring your passport and scholarship letter to the branch. This should be one of your first tasks.
Phone and SIM
Grab a prepaid SIM card at the airport or from a supermarket. Telstra has the best coverage outside cities. Optus and Vodafone are cheaper. You will need an Australian number for almost everything, from rental applications to two-factor authentication on university systems.
Health cover (OSHC)
Your scholarship covers Overseas Student Health Cover for the duration of your studies. This is not the same as Australian Medicare. OSHC covers doctor visits, hospital stays, and some prescription medications. It does not cover dental or optical. Know what is included before you need it.
Cultural adjustment
Australia is casual in ways that can catch you off guard. Professors go by their first names. The weather in southern cities is nothing like the tropics. The food options are global but expensive. Social norms around directness, personal space, and timekeeping are different from many of the countries scholars come from. Most people adjust within a few months, but homesickness is real and common. Your university will have counselling services available at no cost. Use them if you need to. There is nothing weak about it.
Living Costs by City
Where you end up studying will make a big difference to how far your stipend stretches. The living allowance is the same regardless of city, but the cost of living is not. Here is a realistic breakdown based on what scholars actually report spending, not the university marketing figures that always seem suspiciously low.
Sydney
The most expensive city in Australia. Rent for a one-bedroom apartment starts around AUD $2,000 per month and can go much higher near the CBD or eastern suburbs. Groceries, transport, and dining out are all pricey. If your scholarship places you in Sydney, plan on sharing accommodation. Living alone on the stipend here is unrealistic unless you also work part-time.
Melbourne
Similar to Sydney but with slightly cheaper suburbs if you are willing to live further out. Public transport is better than Sydney in some respects. Rent for a shared room in the inner suburbs runs AUD $800 to $1,200 per month. Melbourne has a big international student community, so finding housemates is not difficult. Budget for tram and train fares since the city sprawls.
Brisbane
More affordable than Sydney and Melbourne and growing fast. Warm weather year-round, which means lower heating bills. Rent is noticeably cheaper, though it has been climbing. A shared room near a university campus runs around AUD $600 to $900 per month. The city has been getting more expensive since the 2032 Olympics were announced, but it is still a better deal than the southern capitals.
Adelaide
The city that past scholars recommend most often for value. Rent is significantly cheaper: a decent one-bedroom apartment runs AUD $1,200 to $1,500 per month, and shared accommodation can be under AUD $600. The city is compact and bikeable. Groceries at the Central Market are cheaper than supermarket prices in Sydney. If you want to actually save money on the stipend, Adelaide is where scholars manage to do it.
Canberra
Moderate costs overall. Canberra is a government town with a small-city feel. There is not much nightlife, but the Australian National University is world-class. Rent is somewhere between Adelaide and Sydney. It gets genuinely cold in winter, which is a shock for scholars from tropical countries. Budget for warm clothing and heating.
Hobart / Tasmania
Affordable rent but limited options. The rental market in Hobart is small, so while prices are lower, finding a place can take time. Tasmania is beautiful and quiet. If you want a peaceful study environment without big-city distractions, this works. But it is cold, and options for part-time work are fewer than on the mainland.
Perth
Moderate costs and a pleasant climate. Perth is geographically isolated from the rest of Australia, which means flights to other cities are expensive. But the city itself is clean, safe, and has good beaches. Rent is moderate. The isolation bothers some people, but scholars who enjoy a smaller, quieter community tend to like it.
Budget tips from past scholars
- • Share accommodation. Solo living eats the stipend alive, especially in Sydney and Melbourne.
- • Cook at home. Eating out every day will burn through AUD $300 to $400 per month easily. Cooking cuts that to under $100.
- • Use student discounts. Your student ID gets you reduced fares on public transport, cheaper cinema tickets, and discounts at many retailers. Always ask.
- • Shop at Aldi or buy from markets close to closing time when prices drop. Coles and Woolworths are convenient but rarely the cheapest option.
Part-Time Work Rules
On a Student visa (Subclass 500), you are allowed to work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session. During scheduled university breaks, there is no cap on hours. This is a per-fortnight limit, not a weekly one, so you could technically work 40 hours one week and 8 the next, as long as the total across any 14-day period does not exceed 48.
What you need to know
This is a hard limit. Breaching it puts your visa at risk, and by extension your scholarship.
Many scholars use semester breaks to work more and build savings for the next term.
While the visa allows work, the scholarship conditions may discourage excessive employment. Your primary obligation is to maintain satisfactory academic progress. If your grades slip because you are working too much, the scholarship can be terminated.
Common jobs that scholars take include tutoring (especially in subjects they studied back home), retail, hospitality, and on-campus roles like library assistant or research assistant. Campus jobs are often more flexible with scheduling around classes. Many scholars rely on part-time work to supplement the stipend, particularly in expensive cities. It is not a luxury; for most, it is a necessity.
Academic Life
The scholarship comes with academic strings attached, and they are not gentle. You must maintain satisfactory academic progress throughout your studies. What counts as "satisfactory" is defined by your university, but generally it means passing all your units and making adequate progress toward completing your degree within the expected timeframe.
Academic rules under the scholarship
Failing units, falling behind on your thesis, or not attending classes can trigger a review of your scholarship. If the university reports unsatisfactory progress, your scholarship can be suspended or terminated. There is an appeals process, but it is not a guaranteed safety net.
You cannot switch your degree programme, change your field of study, or drop and add units freely. Any significant change to your course needs approval from both the university and the scholarship programme (DFAT). Minor unit substitutions might be straightforward, but changing from a Master of Public Health to a Master of Business Administration, for example, would be a major request that may not be approved.
Transferring from one Australian university to another while on scholarship is strongly discouraged and rarely approved. You were placed at a specific institution for a reason. If you have serious concerns about your academic environment, raise them with the scholarship liaison officer at your university before attempting anything formal.
The scholarship covers a fixed duration. If you fall behind and need more time to complete your degree, an extension is not automatic. You must apply for it, provide justification, and wait for approval. Extensions cost money, and the programme is not obligated to grant them.
The Return Home Obligation
This is the part that causes the most grief, the most questions, and the most regret when people do not take it seriously. As an Australia Awards scholar, you are contractually required to return to your home country for a minimum of two years after completing your studies. The clock starts when you leave Australia, not when you graduate.
This is not a suggestion
The return home requirement is a binding part of the scholarship agreement you signed before departure. It is tied to both the scholarship contract and your visa conditions. If you breach it, the consequences are real: the Australian government can pursue the recovery of scholarship costs (we are talking tens of thousands of dollars), and it may affect your eligibility for future Australian visas. This is not a theoretical risk. It has happened to scholars who tried to stay.
Common questions about the obligation
Short trips abroad are fine. You can attend conferences, visit family in other countries, or take holidays. But you must be based in your home country. The two years is about residency, not about never leaving.
Marriage to an Australian does not exempt you from the return obligation. This catches people by surprise. You can marry whoever you want, but the two-year rule still applies. Your spouse can join you in your home country during that period, or you can manage the distance. But you cannot use marriage as a workaround to stay in Australia.
Exceptions for safety reasons are considered on a case-by-case basis. If returning to your home country would put your life at genuine risk, the Australian government may grant an exemption or deferral. But this is assessed individually and is not an automatic exemption. You would need to make a formal case.
No. Applying for a permanent visa while on the scholarship directly conflicts with the return obligation you agreed to. If you are caught applying for PR while still on your student visa under the scholarship, it can trigger termination of the award. Do not do this.
Absolutely. Once you have fulfilled the two-year return period, you are free to apply for any Australian visa, including skilled migration, and return. Many former scholars do exactly this. The obligation is time-limited, not permanent.
The purpose of the return obligation is to ensure that the skills and training you gained in Australia benefit your home country. The Australian government funds this scholarship as a development aid programme, not as a migration pathway. If your primary motivation for applying was to move to Australia permanently, this scholarship was never the right fit. Past scholars who understood and accepted this from the start tend to have a much smoother experience than those who spent their entire degree trying to find a loophole.
Extensions and Changes
Life does not always follow the plan you submitted in your application. Sometimes you need more time, or your research direction shifts, or you realise the degree you chose is not quite right. The scholarship programme does have processes for handling changes, but none of them are simple and none of them are guaranteed.
PhD extensions
A PhD extension is possible if you have strong justification. Legitimate reasons include data collection delays, supervisor changes, or approved scope expansions. The request must go through your university and be endorsed by your supervisor before the scholarship programme will consider it. "I need more time" without a concrete reason is not enough. Extensions are not guaranteed and they are not common.
Course changes
Changing your course requires approval from both DFAT and your university. The new course must still align with the development priorities identified in your original application. Switching from engineering to law, for example, would be an extremely difficult sell. If a minor adjustment within the same field is needed, the process is more straightforward, but still formal.
Adding another degree
You cannot stack another degree on top of your current scholarship. If you finish a Master's and want to do a PhD, you need to apply for a new scholarship or find alternative funding. The scholarship covers one degree, period.
Master's to PhD switch
You cannot switch from a Master's to a PhD mid-scholarship. These are treated as separate awards. If you decide during your Master's that you want to pursue a PhD, you would need to complete (or withdraw from) the Master's first and then apply for a PhD scholarship separately. The application process starts from scratch.
Continue Reading
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