Fully-Funded Scholarships in Australia — Complete Guide for International Students

A living reference to Australia's major funded scholarships, from government awards to university-specific research funding.

"Fully funded" gets used loosely in scholarship marketing, so it's worth being precise from the start: in Australia, full funding — tuition, living stipend, and often travel and health cover — is genuinely available, but it's concentrated in government-backed programmes and postgraduate research degrees. Coursework Bachelor's and Master's scholarships exist too, but they're more commonly partial (a tuition discount) rather than fully funded. Here's how the landscape actually breaks down.

National Government Scholarships

Australia Awards Scholarships

The flagship government scholarship, aimed at students from eligible developing countries across the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and parts of Asia and the Middle East.

• Covers full tuition, return air travel, an establishment allowance, and a living stipend
• Available for undergraduate and postgraduate coursework study (not typically PhD)
• Eligibility is country-specific — applicants apply through their home country's Australia Awards office, not directly through a university
• Each participating country has its own priority fields and application timeline, so check your specific country profile rather than assuming a single global deadline

Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP)

The main funding route for research-based postgraduate study — Master's by Research and PhD.

• Covers full tuition (fee offset) and, for the most competitive candidates, a living stipend indexed annually (commonly in the low-to-mid $40,000s AUD per year — confirm the current rate, as this is reviewed each year)
• Often includes relocation and thesis allowances, plus Overseas Student Health Cover where applicable
• You don't apply to the RTP directly — you apply for admission to a research degree, and universities allocate RTP-funded places to the strongest applicants during that same process
• Open to both domestic and international students, though the number of places for international candidates varies by university and department

University-Specific Scholarships Worth Checking

Most major Australian universities run their own funded scholarships on top of, or alongside, the RTP. A few examples worth building into any research plan:

• University of Sydney — offers RTP-funded places plus additional university scholarships for HDR (Higher Degree by Research) candidates
• University of Melbourne — the Melbourne Research Scholarship and RTP Scholarship cover both fee offset and stipend for high-achieving research candidates; some discipline- and country-specific scholarships (such as joint programmes with international scholarship bodies) also run alongside these
• Monash University — runs its own Monash Research Training Program scholarships for international Master's-by-research and PhD candidates
• Swinburne University of Technology — the Swinburne International Excellence Scholarship offers partial funding for coursework international students
• Bond University — offers a range of merit-based scholarships, generally partial rather than fully funded, for coursework programmes

Because eligibility, stipend amounts, and application windows shift year to year and department to department, treat any university's scholarships page as the primary source, and check it directly rather than relying on a secondhand list — including this one.

How to Actually Find a Funded PhD or Research Master's Place

Unlike the coursework scholarships above, most PhD and research funding in Australia isn't a single "apply here" portal — it works through one of two routes:

1. Apply for RTP or university-funded admission directly, nominating your research area and, where required, a proposed supervisor, as part of your enrolment application
2. Search for advertised, already-funded projects — many Australian universities and individual research groups advertise specific funded PhD or Master's-by-research projects tied to a grant, which can be faster and more certain than the general admission route, since the funding is often already secured before the position is advertised

Common Mistakes That Cost Applicants Funded Places

• Applying to a coursework Master's expecting RTP-style full funding — RTP funding is for research degrees, not coursework
• Missing the fact that "open to all nationalities" scholarships sometimes carry a narrower real eligibility (a specific country list, a Home Fee-equivalent status, or a required prior qualification) buried further down the page
• Waiting for a single global deadline on Australia Awards, when the real deadline is set by your home country's Awards office and can differ significantly
• Not contacting a potential supervisor early for research degrees — many funded places are effectively decided at the supervisor-matching stage, before the formal application is even reviewed

Disclaimer: Scholarship values, stipend rates, and eligibility criteria are set by the Australian Government and individual universities, and are reviewed and updated regularly — including annually indexed stipend amounts. Always confirm current details directly on the relevant government or university scholarships page before applying. This guide is for general informational purposes only.