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Applications for the 2026 intake are open 3 February - 31 March 2025 to current Year 12 students.
Please refer to key dates below, and if you have a question about your application at any time, feel free to contact us.
How do I know if I'm eligible?
For a comprehensive list of all eligibility requirements as well as key information on selection criteria, please visit the scholarships website.
Application guide
When applying it is essential that you complete all required questions and attach all of the necessary documents to ensure that your application can be processed in a timely manner. Unfortunately, the Scholarships and Bursaries Office is unable to consider incomplete applications as they are assessed using the information included in your application, supporting documents and interviews.
Nominate an academic referee
Once your application form is submitted, your nominated academic referee will be invited to respond to referee questions via our online portal. Your academic referee must be a teacher, careers practitioner, year-level coordinator or principal at your current school. They should be someone who can provide detailed information about your academic record and ability, and who ideally has known you for at least 12 months.
Frequently asked questions
Please still submit a Hansen Scholarship application before 31 March, 11:59 AEDT.
You'll have until 2 May 2025, 11:59 AEST to provide documenttion that you fulfil the following eligibility criteria for the Hansen Scholarship Program:
- You must experience financial circumstances that present a challenge to attending the University of Melbourne (you or your family receive Centrelink benefits).
We accept the following means-tested Commonwealth income support payments as a demonstration of financial need:
- Abstudy
- Austudy
- Carers Payment (not inclusive of Carers Allowance)
- Disability Support Pension
- Family Tax Benefit (FTB) A
- Family Tax Benefit (FTB) A & B
- Jobseeker
- Parenting Payment
- Youth Allowance.
To be eligible for this scholarship, you must be one of the following:
- Australian citizen
- Australian permanent resident (including permanent humanitarian visa holders)
- holder of a Temporary Protections Visa (Subclass 785) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (Subclass 790)
- holder of a Bridging Visa as the result of an application for an Australian temporary or permanent protection visa
If you have applied for either a permanent or temporary humanitarian visa, you will need to provide a copy of application acknowledgment from the Department of Home Affairs and you will be asked to provide evidence of your Bridging Visa showing that you are permitted to study in Australia.
Applicants with New Zealand citizenship are not eligible for the Hansen Scholarship unless they have obtained Australian permanent resident status. New Zealanders are automatically given a "Special Category Visa" (SCV) when they arrive and are "Temporary Residents".
Applications are assessed using the information included in your application, supporting documents, and interviews.
Outcomes for applications are usually released around August of each year. Final offers will be dependent on ATAR achieved and acceptance into the course of choice at the University of Melbourne.
Accommodation at Little Hall is the only residential option covered by the scholarship.
Your academic referee must be a teacher, careers practitioner, year-level coordinator or principal at your current school. They should be someone who can provide detailed information about your academic record and ability, and who ideally has known you for at least 12 months.
If your referee informs you they cannot provide a reference after you submit your initial application, please contact the Hansen Scholarship team with the details of a replacement referee.
Approval to defer a scholarship will normally only be given where there are exceptional circumstances preventing a student from studying in a semester (evidence will be required). If you have any questions about your circumstances, please contact the Hansen Scholarship team.
The Hansen Scholarship does not offer fee remission for Australian citizens and permanent residents.
The Hansen Scholarship only provides full fee remission for asylum seekers who would otherwise have to pay international fees. Holders of, or applicants to, a temporary humanitarian visa fall into this category, and applicants for a permanent humanitarian visa who would otherwise have to pay international fees.
Permanent humanitarian visa holders are eligible for deferred domestic fees for a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP) and will not have their fees covered by the scholarship. This also applies if a Hansen Scholar obtains a permanent visa while enrolled in the Program.
Be aware of online scams that may target current and prospective students. Find out what to look out for.
Key dates for 2025 applications
-
3 February 2025
Monday 9.00am AEDT -
Applications open
Submit a SmartyGrants application and nominate an academic referee.
If your application meets the minimum eligibility criteria your application will progress to the next stage. -
31 March 2025
Monday 11.59pm AEDT -
Applications close
A panel of assessors will longlist students -
Mid-April 2025
-
Video assessment
Longlisted students will be invited to submit a recorded video response. -
July 2025
-
Interview weekend
Shortlisted students will be invited to attend an interview with the selection panel. -
August 2025
-
Conditional offers released
Subject to the release of ATARs and course offers at the end of the year.
Hansen Scholarship Program
As a Hansen Scholar, you’ll join a program that nurtures potential and provides a place where your ambition can grow, offering you access to a high-quality university education that might otherwise feel out of reach.