Special scholarships available to young people and veterans for ECEC and other courses

Veterans and young people can now apply for scholarships of up to $13,000 to cover the costs of an eligible vocational education and training (VET) qualification and internship.

Round Four of the Commonwealth Scholarships Program for Young Australians is open for those living in 10 selected regions, with up to $5,000 on offer per year for two years, along with an additional $3,000 if they also complete a 20-day paid internship.

The ten regions are as follows: 

•   New South Wales – Grafton (including Coffs Harbour) and Gosford
•   Northern Territory – Alice Springs
•   Queensland – Maryborough and Townsville
•   South Australia – Port Pirie
•   Tasmania – Burnie
•   Victoria – Shepparton
•   Western Australia – Wanneroo and Armadale

The new round was announced by Federal Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert who is himself a veteran.

“We’re already seeing hundreds of thousands of Australians upskilling or reskilling thanks to programs like this, as well as JobTrainer, and TAFE and apprenticeship funding, all of which is driving our economic recovery,” he said. 

The program was recently expanded to include those who have  transitioned from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in the past two years.

“Transitioning from the military to civilian life can be a difficult time and these scholarships will help give veterans additional skills and qualifications on top of their valuable military experience,” Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel, Andrew Gee said.

For young people, those aged between 15 and 24 years are eligible for the scholarships, but must not be in full-time work or study at the time of applying, and intend on taking an eligible VET qualification from Certificate III through to an Advanced Diploma.

An extra $2.9 million has been allocated in the 2021-22 Federal Budget to support the initiative. 

“Young people have been among the hardest hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, so opportunities like this will be immensely helpful, especially for those in disadvantaged communities,’” Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services, the Hon Luke Howarth MP, said.  

Applications for the scholarships close on 11 March 2022. For more details on how to apply, please see here.