Equity Scholarships

Equity scholarships recognise that all people have different needs and that some groups experience disadvantages that impact on their educational progress. WSU Equity Scholarships support a wide variety of students who experience financial hardship and other educational disadvantages.

When ranked amongst Australia’s suburbs and localities, approximately 67% of Australian suburbs have a higher socioeconomic status than Western Sydney. As the centre for education in Western Sydney, it is the University’s mission to support disadvantaged students in furthering their education, not only to improve their personal circumstances, but to collectively transform the socioeconomic levels of the region.

As of 2019, 13.3% of NSW’s population were living below the poverty line. As part of WSU’s commitment to supporting students who fall into this bottom 13-15% household income group, we use indicators of low socioeconomic status to assess the students who are in greatest need of financial support during their tertiary studies.

Financial Hardship is a key indicator of need, and applicants experiencing financial hardship often provide the following:

• Their Centrelink (or other Commonwealth) means-tested income support payments, such as Youth Allowance, Austudy, JobSeeker, Special Benefit or ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension, Parenting Payment, and Carer Payment.
• Their family members’ Centrelink income support payments such as those listed above, or Family Tax Benefit Part A.

You may also experience one or more of the following educational disadvantages:

• Carer responsibilities
• Long-term medical condition/disability or ongoing effects of abuse
• Sole parent responsibilities
• Relocating from a regional or remote area
• Refugee status
• A non-English speaking background

If you are experiencing any of the above, we strongly recommend you apply for our equity scholarships.

For a full list of educational disadvantages considered under the equity criteria, and details of supporting documents required, please refer to the UAC website.

To apply for scholarships in this category, you only need to submit one application through the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC) Equity Scholarships form. We will ask you a range of questions, and once we know more about you, we will assess your eligibility for each available scholarship in this category.

Note: there is a separate application form for scholarships dedicated to Indigenous students, Asylum Seekers and High Potential scholarships.

Equity Scholarships

The scholarships available will be continuously added to the table below over the coming months. By submitting an application form, you will be assessed for every scholarship released until the closing date.

Closing date

Applications for 2024 Session 1 Equity Scholarships are now closed.

¹ Per year amount is the maximum annual scholarship entitlements. Payments are based on enrolment. Refer to the Scholarships for Undergraduate Policy.

² Duration of Degree means the scholarship entitlements are determined by an assessment of the degree you were enrolled in at the time the offer is made and the credit points remaining to complete the degree.

³ Availability:

• Open - scholarship is included in application process;
• Awarded - scholarship has been awarded this year;
• Under assessment - Applications are currently being assessed. Scholarship offers are continually made over the coming months and offers will be sent to the successful applicants;
• Allocated - scholarship was awarded in previous year(s).