Financial assistance

Many rural and remote students are required to leave home, or spend time away from home, as part of their studies. Here you can find information on the range of financial assistance available for rural and remote students to study either at TAFE or University.

Commonwealth allowances and scholarships

The Australian Government offers a range of scholarships to assist students, including:

Youth Allowance provides financial help for people aged 16 to 24 years who are studying full time, undertaking a full time Australian Apprenticeship, training, looking for work or sick.
Abstudy helps with costs for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australians who are studying or undertaking an Australian Apprenticeship.
Austudy provides financial help to full-time students and Australian Apprentices aged 25 years or more.
Concession and Health Care Cards - students may qualify for concession and health care cards that can help access cheaper health care services and medicines..
HECS-HELP - The HECS‑HELP scheme is both a student loan and a student discount. Eligible students may access a HECS‑HELP loan to pay their student contribution amounts, or receive a 10% discount (known as the HECS-HELP discount) on upfront payments of $500 or more. Students enrolled in Commonwealth supported places/courses at university may be eligible for this scheme.
Relocation Scholarship is an annual payment to help eligible Abstudy or Youth Allowance students with their higher education if they have relocated to or from a regional or remote area to study.
Student Start-up Scholarship helps eligible higher education students for the upfront cost of study.

University scholarships and loans

University Scholarship Offices provide information on scholarships relevant to courses offered.

UWA, Curtin and Murdoch University all offer small loans through their student support services.

Course specific scholarships

A range of scholarships are available specific to the course that you are studying. Undergraduate scholarships are available for a range of health courses including:

Medicine
Dentistry
Allied Health
Pharmacy
Nursing
Aboriginal Health Worker

Refer to scholarships and grants for further information.

Traineeships

The WA Country Health Service (WACHS) offers traineeships in a range of health related TAFE studies, including patient care assistants, allied health assistants, and nursing assistants.

For more information about traineeships visit Department of Training and Workforce Development.

Funding support for rural student placements

Worried about how much a rural placement is going to cost you? There is some funding support available to help meet some of the travel and accommodation costs that you may incur during a rural placement.

Rural Health West - Allied Health Rural Clinical Placement Program
WA Centre for Rural Health - Student Placement Scholarship Programs (Midwest and Pilbara placements only).

Accommodation support

Many sites within WACHS provide accommodation free of charge, or at a subsidised rate, to students completing rural placements. Accommodation is normally in either staff quarters or shared accommodation.

This type of accommodation will give you the opportunity to mix with other health professionals (e.g. doctors, nurses and allied health professionals) as well as other students. Staff quarters normally have cooking facilities, TV room, laundry facilities etc.

Again, have a chat to your Clinical Coordinator or rural supervisor regarding the availability of accommodation prior to placement.