Who Can Apply: Australian Scholarship Eligibility for the 2028 Intake

Australia Awards Scholarships eligibility

Australia Awards Scholarships is the Australian government's flagship international scholarship programme, and also the most misunderstood. The single biggest misconception is that it is open to everyone. It is not. This is a development aid programme, funded through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), designed to build capacity in developing countries. If your country is not on the participating list, you cannot apply. There is no exception process, no appeal, and no amount of academic excellence that overrides the country requirement.

Eligible countries and regions

Roughly 55 countries take part, drawn from South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and Africa (including North African countries such as Egypt and Morocco). DFAT's 2027-intake dates table lists 31 countries and territories plus 25 African countries. The list changes as Australia's foreign policy priorities shift, so always confirm your country's status on the DFAT Australia Awards website before starting an application.

For the 2027 intake they included Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Timor-Leste, other Pacific nations, and African countries from Kenya and Nigeria to South Africa. Thailand and Malaysia were not on that list.

Citizenship and residency rules

Under the Australia Awards Scholarships Policy Handbook (June 2026), you must be a citizen of a participating country and be living in, and applying from, that country. You cannot be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or be applying for a visa to live in Australia permanently. You also cannot be married to, engaged to, or the de facto partner of someone who holds, or is eligible to hold, Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency at any time during the application, selection and mobilisation phases. If your partner gains Australian PR while you are being assessed, that disqualifies you.

Current serving military personnel are not eligible. You must also have no criminal convictions, and you must tell the programme about any relationship with staff at the Australian post or the managing contractor. Since the June 2026 handbook, you also cannot hold or have accepted another scholarship whose benefits overlap with Australia Awards, and you must disclose all current or previous scholarships in your application.

Work experience requirement

This is the requirement that eliminates the most applicants, and the one people know least about. The central rules let each partner country set its own criteria, such as having worked a certain number of years in an appropriate sector, and many country programmes set a hard minimum of two years of professional work experience for Master's applicants. Timor-Leste's 2027-intake profile, for example, required two years of relevant experience for Master's study. Where it applies, it is a hard eligibility criterion, not a preference in a scoring rubric, and fresh graduates are simply not eligible.

The experience should be relevant to your field or to your country's development priorities. Internships and part-time jobs during your undergraduate studies generally do not count. Panels look for substantive, full-time professional experience showing you have worked in a field and can explain how further study will deepen your contribution when you return home. Some countries set the bar higher: Nepal's 2027-intake profile asked for at least three years of relevant full-time work after the bachelor's degree. Check your country's Australia Awards page for the exact requirement.

Age and academic progression

You must be at least 18 years old on 1 February of the year your scholarship starts. There is no upper age limit, though in practice applicants range from their mid-20s to mid-40s; the programme values professional maturity combined with remaining career runway.

There is a progression rule many people overlook: you cannot apply for a course at a lower level than you have already achieved, and in practice country programmes expect you to move up a level. If you have a Master's degree, you would normally need to apply for a PhD rather than a second Master's. If you already have a PhD, there is no higher level to progress to, so in practice you are unlikely to be selected. The programme wants to upskill people, not fund lateral moves.

Field of study restrictions

Your proposed field must align with your country's development priority areas, set by the Australian government with the partner government. They vary widely: STEM and public health for some countries, governance, education, economics or environmental management for others. The Philippines' 2027-intake call, for instance, listed areas such as agriculture, climate change, cybersecurity, education, governance, health, maritime security, energy and trade.

You cannot pick any programme and expect approval. If your country's priorities are agriculture, water management and governance and you want to study creative writing, your application will be screened out regardless of its strength. Check your country's page for its priority fields before investing time in an application.

Previous recipients

You cannot receive a long-term Australia Award if you have held one in the previous four years. In practice repeat awards are rare, because the programme is designed to reach as many people as possible rather than fund the same scholars again.

English language requirements

English proficiency is required for every Australian scholarship, but the details depend on the stream. For Australia Awards the minimum is set centrally and is "not negotiable". For other streams, universities set their own thresholds. Either way, if you do not meet the English requirement, you will not get past the first filter.

Minimum English scores for Australia Awards

A few points that are easy to miss. The IELTS requirement is for the Academic version, not General Training. Applicants regularly book the cheaper or more widely available General Training test, then discover it is not accepted. Make sure you register for IELTS Academic.

Only IELTS, TOEFL and PTE Academic appear on DFAT's accepted list. The Duolingo English Test is not accepted, which catches applicants who prepared through it because it is cheaper and online. Some universities accept Duolingo for direct admission, but that is separate from Australia Awards. Cambridge English results are not on DFAT's list either.

Results are valid for two years from the test date, and they must still be valid on 1 January of the year you start (1 January 2028 for the 2028 intake). Some country programmes also want a valid score at the application stage, so plan your test timing carefully.

There is a safety net. If you are within half an IELTS point (10 TOEFL points or 7 PTE points) of the requirement, you may be offered DFAT-funded pre-course English training, either in your home country or in Australia, for a maximum of six months. So an IELTS 6.0 does not necessarily knock you out of the process. Not every country offers in-country training, it is not guaranteed, and your application still has to be competitive enough to be shortlisted.

The scores above are the Australia Awards minimum. Universities may set higher requirements for specific programmes, and where they do, you must meet the university's level. A Master's in Law at the University of Melbourne, for example, may require IELTS 7.0 with no band below 7.0. If you are placed at a university that requires more than you submitted, you will need to retake the test or accept pre-course training.

Research Training Program (RTP)

The Research Training Program runs on completely different rules. Where AAS is restricted by nationality, RTP is open to students from any country. Where AAS covers coursework Master's and PhD, RTP only covers research degrees: Master's by Research and PhD. If you want a taught Master's, RTP is not for you.

The government allocates RTP block grants to universities, and each university decides how to distribute them. There is no single portal, no central deadline and no unified selection. You apply directly to the university, which decides whether to offer you an RTP place based on your research proposal, academic record, supervisor availability and the strength of that intake's applicant pool.

Because universities manage RTP internally, competitiveness varies enormously. A well-funded engineering department at a Group of Eight university might have dozens of places a year; a small humanities department at a regional university might have two, and some universities fund only a handful of international RTP scholarships each round. Research specific departments, not just universities. Contacting potential supervisors before you apply is practically essential: a supervisor who is interested in your topic and willing to back your application is one of the strongest factors in winning a place.

There is no return-home requirement, no work experience minimum and no country restriction. The main barrier is academic: you need research credentials strong enough to persuade a supervisor and an admissions panel. International students must also meet the university's English requirements, which typically mirror or exceed the Australia Awards minimums.

Destination Australia (closed to new students)

Destination Australia used to pay up to A$15,000 a year to domestic and international students at regional campuses. It is now closed to new students. In the 2024–25 Budget the government announced no further funding rounds from 1 July 2024; current recipients keep their support for the rest of their studies, for up to four years (Department of Education).

Many older guides and videos still list it as an option. If you want to study at a regional campus, look instead at that university's own scholarships, which some regional institutions offer to international students.

Australia for ASEAN Scholarships

This relatively new DFAT programme (also called Aus4ASEAN Scholarships) sits alongside Australia Awards with a narrower geographic focus. DFAT reports 227 awards for Master's study between 2023 and 2025; it has not published a 2028-intake round, so confirm a new round exists before you plan around it. It is open to citizens of the ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste, which joined ASEAN in October 2025).

It targets Master's study and is designed to strengthen ties between Australia and the region. If your country is also eligible for Australia Awards, you may be able to apply for both, though the processes and timelines are separate. The ASEAN scholarships focus on strategic sectors, with trade, digital economy, climate change, health security and infrastructure among those commonly cited; check the current list on the DFAT website.

Eligibility is broadly similar to Australia Awards on age, English and the expectation that you return home to apply your skills. Because the programme is newer and smaller, rules can change more often between intakes. Always check the latest DFAT guidelines.

Applicants from Thailand and Malaysia, which were not on the 2027-intake Australia Awards list, may find this programme their main DFAT option. Singapore and Brunei were on that list, but country lists can change from year to year.

Quad Fellowship

The Quad Fellowship is a joint initiative of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, and the only scholarship on this list explicitly limited to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. If your degree is in law, business, social sciences or the humanities, you are not eligible regardless of nationality; MBAs, business analytics and clinical healthcare doctorates are excluded.

Applicants must be citizens or legal permanent residents of one of the four Quad countries, or citizens of one of ten Southeast Asian nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), and hold a bachelor's degree in a STEM field. The important correction to what many guides say: the fellowship funds a full-time STEM Master's or PhD at a university in the United States. It does not fund study in Australia.

Fellows receive a one-time US$40,000 award for academic expenses, plus networking events that connect fellows from all four Quad nations. It is competitive and small. Applications go through the Quad Fellowship's own portal, administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), on a timeline unrelated to the Australian academic calendar. At the time of writing the site lists the 2025–2026 selection as closed and shows no newer call.

The "Am I eligible?" reality check

After going through hundreds of forum posts, Reddit threads and YouTube comments, the same questions come up over and over. Here are direct answers.

"I'm from India. Can I get an Australian government scholarship?"

Not through Australia Awards: India is not on the list. Your options are the Research Training Program (all nationalities, research degrees only) and individual university scholarships. Destination Australia, which older guides still mention, has taken no new students since July 2024. Many Australian universities offer generous merit scholarships to Indian students independently of government funding, so investigate those directly. Indian STEM graduates can also look at the Quad Fellowship, but it funds study in the United States, not Australia.

"I just graduated. Can I apply for Australia Awards?"

Almost certainly not. Most country programmes require at least two years of professional work experience, and some require more. This is one of the least negotiable requirements. The programme is not looking for high achievers straight out of university; it wants professionals who understand the practical challenges in their sector and can say exactly how a Master's or PhD will help them contribute at home. If you graduated last month, spend the next two to three years building real experience, then apply.

"I already have a Master's degree. Can I do another Master's under Australia Awards?"

Normally no. The central rule bars a course at a lower level than you hold, and in practice country programmes expect a Master's holder to apply for a PhD rather than a second Master's. A few country profiles allow exceptions, so read yours, but do not count on one.

"I want to study arts, but my country's priority list is all STEM."

Then you have a problem. Your field must align with your country's development priorities. If those are agriculture, health, infrastructure and technology and you want film production, your application will be screened out. There is no room to argue that the field is personally important to you; the programme funds what the two governments have agreed is strategically valuable. If your field genuinely does not fit, look at RTP or university scholarships, which have no field restrictions.

"I'm from the US/UK/Canada/Europe. What Australian scholarships can I get?"

Fewer than applicants from developing countries. Endeavour, which used to fund students from developed nations, was discontinued in 2019. What remains is the Research Training Program (research Master's or PhD) and university-specific scholarships. Some Group of Eight universities offer international merit scholarships that partly or fully cover tuition, but competition is intense and they rarely include living costs.

"My partner is Australian. Does that matter?"

Yes, and it disqualifies you from Australia Awards. If you are married to, engaged to or in a de facto relationship with an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident at any point during application, selection or mobilisation, you are ineligible, even if your partner lives overseas. The rule exists because of the two-year return obligation, and it is one of the strictest criteria in the programme.

Eligibility at a glance

Eligible? Next, see what each scholarship covers: tuition, stipend, airfare, and the benefits most guides forget to mention.