Pictured above are past QATSIF Scholarship recipients from John Paul College at Daisy Hill in Brisbane’s south
There are several scholarship programs for Indigenous children in Australia.
Below is a summary of programs with links to further information.
Yalari
Yalari is a not-for-profit organisation and since 2005 has been providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from regional, rural and remote communities across Australia the opportunity to receive a full boarding school scholarship for their entire secondary education.
Each year, up to 50 Yalari scholarships are offered to Indigenous children who satisfy the selection criteria and are willing to give 100% towards their education.
Scholarships include full boarding and tuition at one of Yalari’s partner schools, many of those schools are Queensland independent schools.
To be eligible, students must be entering their first year of high school and come from a regional, rural or remote community across Australia.
Applications for students entering Year 7 in 2022 are currently open and will close 30 April 2021.
Find out more information on the Yalari website.
View and download Yalari’s application pack.
Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF)
AIEF provides scholarships that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in financial need to attend leading Australian schools and universities.
AIEF Scholarships enable students to attend AIEF Partner Schools by covering the cost of tuition and/or boarding fees less ABSTUDY and a financial contribution by their parents (the ‘Parent Contribution’).
A list of AIEF Partner Schools can be searched by location and school type.
Detailed information about eligibility criteria and how to start the application process is available on AIEF’s Scholarship application page.
The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation (QATSIF)
QATSIF was created to give Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families increased educational choices and life opportunities. It is an independent, not-for-profit trust managed by The Public Trustee of Queensland and operates through a small Secretariat.
Past QATSIF scholarships recipients from Ipswich Girls Grammar School
The funds used by QATSIF for its programs and activities are drawn from the interest earned on the original capital provided to The Public Trustee to establish the Trust. Built from the labour of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders under now-repealed laws relating to Stolen Wages, preserving this capital means the toil of previous generations will have a direct benefit to the generations that follow.
Under their QCE Scholarship Program, QATSIF provides two-year scholarship funding to support students commencing in Year 11. QATSIF funds successful schools which then provide scholarships to individual students. The intention of the funding is to increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student retention in Years 11 and 12 rather than simply sustain existing retention rates.
From May 2021, QATSIF will send Round 13 Application information out to all Queensland schools (State, Catholic and Independent) to share with their students, parents and carers.
Eligible Year 10 and 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can apply through their schools.
(Round 13 relates to 2022-2023 Scholarships.)
Find out more about QATSIF’s QCE Scholarship program.
Detailed information about Round 13 (2022-2023) can be found on this page of QATSIF’s website.
