Scholarship equity and disadvantage definitions

Access to higher education and fostering student success remain central to our mission at Monash University. If there are circumstances that have impacted your education or daily life, you may be eligible for equity scholarships to help you reach your full potential.

Scholarship equity assessment considers the below equity and educational disadvantage categories. If you apply for equity consideration, you may need to provide supporting documentation to substantiate your claims.

You are eligible to apply for equity scholarship consideration if you hold:

  • Australian or New Zealand citizenship
  • a permanent Australian residency visa, or
  • an eligible temporary protection, safe haven, or humanitarian visa holder, or bridging visa holder applying for humanitarian visa

Indigenous Australian

This category applies if you identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

Regional and remote locations

This category applies if you live in a regional or remote area of Australia as determined by the Australian Standard Geographical Classification Remoteness Areas Locator.

Attended an under-represented school

This category applies if you attended one of our under-represented schools.

You must be a current year school leaver, have attended a high school listed, and you must select this high school in your scholarship application form.

First in Family

This category applies if you are the first in your immediate family to attend university (immediate family includes siblings, parents/carers and grandparents)

Disadvantaged financial background

This category applies to applicants whose daily life is affected by financial disadvantage, demonstrated by any of the following:

  • you or your family receive an income-tested Centrelink benefit that proves financial disadvantage (e.g. Youth Allowance, Abstudy, Health Care Card or Family Tax Benefit)
  • you or your family are facing financial hardship or excessive financial obligation but do not receive a Centrelink benefit (e.g. living on a farm suffering from drought or floods).

Disability or medical condition

This category applies to applicants who have experienced educational disadvantage due to any learning, physical, sensory, psychiatric or mental health medical condition, illness or disability.

Difficult circumstances

This category applies to applicants who have been prevented from reaching their educational potential because of family or other life circumstances. Circumstances already claimed in any other category should not be restated here.

Examples of circumstances that will be considered under this category:

  • Refugee or asylum seeker status
  • Death of an immediate family member or friend
  • Long-term illness of a family member: illnesses considered as serious and long-term such as cancer or psychiatric illness
  • Severe family disruption including dealing with alcoholism or drug addiction
  • Divorce/separation of parents: difficult separation or divorce of parents including financial hardship and changed living conditions; requirement to change schools and social group
  • Natural disaster such as drought, bushfire or flood
  • Abusive living environment: physical, psychological and/or emotional abuse over an extended period by a person or persons close to the applicant
  • Disruption of education due to constant relocation: relocating to several different schools throughout secondary schooling, or disruption of education due to living or school location
  • Homelessness: you do not have a fixed address and do not live with your family or family members
  • Care leaver (applicants who have spent time in residential, foster or kinship care)
  • Discrimination on the basis of one's own sexuality, sexual orientations, gender-identities, sex characteristics, and/or romantic identities
  • Bullying, harassment or negative treatment because of personal characteristics such as race, religion, sexual characteristics, gender identity or sexual orientation
  • Excessive family responsibility: family is dependent on you for financial, emotional or physical support during your secondary education

Please note this list is in no way prescriptive or exhaustive and should only be used as a guide.

Examples not considered relevant to this category:

  • Anything already claimed under one of the other categories i.e. medical conditions, rural isolation; school location, financial disadvantage
  • Absence of restaurants, art galleries and cultural activities
  • School captaincy
  • Lack of sophisticated equipment within the school
  • Participation in theatre or sporting activities
  • Significant teacher absences
  • Life choices