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Dean’s Rural List (DRL)

Last Updated: 20 July 2026

Dean's Rural List

If you're from an Australian rural background, the Dean's Rural List (DRL) could give you a boost when applying to selected health courses at Monash. It's part of our commitment to growing the rural health workforce and making it easier for students from regional and rural areas to study health disciplines.

Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine: At least 27% of domestic places in our medicine program are reserved for DRL-eligible applicants.
Bachelor of Biomedical Science: The target is for 40 DRL applicants to be admitted to Biomedical Science. DRL-eligible applicants who meet the course eligibility score requirements will receive additional consideration as part of the admissions process.
Bachelor of Allied Health: The majority of places in this course are offered to DRL-eligible applicants

Eligibility

'Rural background' in this instance means rural areas in Australia only. To be eligible, you must have lived at a principal home address located in an area classified MM2–MM7 under the Modified Monash Model for at least:

5 years in a row, OR
10 years in total.

This residency period must be completed by the date you submit your DRL application.

Any address you provide must have been your primary residence. If you attended boarding school, you can use your family's primary home as your qualifying address. Holiday homes, secondary residences, and investment properties cannot be used.

Checking Your Address Classification

The classification of your current and previous addresses can be checked by consulting the Health Workforce Locator. This tool should be used to verify all addresses before including them in your DRL application.

To check if your address is eligible:

Visit the Health Workforce Locator website and click 'Start the locator now'
Start typing in your street address and select from the dropdown list as you type
The tool will display the MM classification of the address. Please refer to the most recent MM classification
Addresses classified as MM2 - MM7 are eligible for DRL consideration

Application Process

After course applications have closed, eligible applicants for Graduate Entry Medicine, Direct Entry Medicine, the Bachelor of Biomedical Science, and the Bachelor of Allied Health will receive an email with DRL application instructions.

If you've applied for two or more of Direct Entry Medicine, Biomedical Science, and Allied Health, you only need to submit one DRL application.

DRL applications must be renewed for each intake. If you have applied for the DRL previously and are seeking admission again, you will need to submit a new DRL application.

Required Documentation

You will be required to provide supporting documentation as part of your DRL application. Your evidence must cover all time periods and addresses you include in your application.

All documents must be clear, legible and in colour, and combined into a single PDF file. This file must not exceed 4MB in size.

Acceptable documentation must include either:

A completed statutory declaration from the applicant and a letter of support; or,
A completed statutory declaration from the applicant and documents to prove residence.

All information and documentation must be accurate and complete. Providing false information may be considered fraud and will be treated seriously by the University. Falsifying documents may also amount to a criminal offence.

Letter of Support

A letter of support must be from a registered medical professional (e.g., GP, dentist, pharmacist) or a school principal, and must include:

Official letterhead with contact information
Date and signature of the professional
Clear statement of how you are known to the writer
Detailed listing of your rural address history with specific time periods
Evidence that the professional is based in or near the rural area you are claiming residence
If the professional is not local to that area, an explanation of how they can verify your rural residence

Sample text is provided in our Supporting Document Guide.

Documents to Prove Residence

Documents to prove residence do not need to be certified. Documents may include:

Utility bills (electricity, gas, water)
Telephone or internet bills
Bank statements (only the first page with address is required)
Centrelink statements
Lease agreements

You don't need to provide documentation for every month. A reasonable sampling of documents that demonstrate your residence over time is sufficient. For example, 1-2 documents per year (spaced throughout the year) would be appropriate for a 5-year consecutive period or a 10-year cumulative period.

Unacceptable Documents and Claims

The following will not be accepted:

Rates notices
Claims for residences where you did not primarily live (e.g. secondary residences or holiday homes)
Claims for time periods in the future
Claims for addresses outside MM2 - MM7 regions

Age-Specific Requirements

For periods when you were under 18, documents may be in a parent/guardian's name but must be accompanied by a statutory declaration from that parent/guardian
For periods when you were over 18: Documents must be in your name only

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility View

Document Requirements View

You don't need to provide documentation for every month. A reasonable sampling of documents that demonstrate your residence over time is sufficient. For example, 1-2 documents per year (spaced throughout the year) would be appropriate for a 5-year consecutive period or a 10-year cumulative period.
If there are gaps in your documentation, explain these in your statutory declaration. Include details about why documentation is unavailable for those periods and any other relevant context.
No. You need to provide either:
- a completed statutory declaration AND a letter of support; OR
- a completed statutory declaration AND documents to prove residence.
Yes, you can provide letters from different medical professionals if a single professional cannot verify your entire residence period.
Rates notices only demonstrate property ownership, not actual residence. The DRL is designed for applicants who have genuinely lived in rural areas. Since someone can own property in a rural area without living there (such as investment properties or holiday homes), rates notices are considered insufficient.
Yes, as long as they clearly show your name (or parent/guardian's name), the address, and relevant dates. Remember all documents must be submitted as a single PDF file.
Include evidence of your name change (e.g., marriage certificate, change of name certificate) along with your supporting documentation.
If you are over 18, you can use bank statements in your name showing the address. Alternatively, your parent/guardian can provide a statutory declaration affirming that you lived with them at the relevant address/es along with bills in their name.
No. Documents to prove residence (such as utility bills, bank statements, etc.) do not need to be certified. You only need to provide clear, legible colour scans of the original documents saved as PDFs. However, statutory declarations must be properly witnessed according to statutory declaration requirements.
List all rural addresses in your DRL application with exact dates for each. Provide supporting documentation that covers each address where possible.

Application Process View

Further Information

If you have questions about the Dean's Rural List, please contact the School of Rural Health.

Resources

Dean's Rural List Supporting Document Guide

Monash Medical School

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences