How to apply

Key dates, eligibility criteria and FAQs

Applications for the 2025 intake have closed. Please refer to key dates below, and if you have a question about your application at any time, feel free to contact us.

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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. Applications are assessed using the information included in your application, supporting documents, and interviews.

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.

5 February 2024
Monday 9.00am AEDT

Stage 1: Applications open
You will complete a written application form that collects some personal information and the contact details for your academic referee. We also ask some questions about you and your ambitions.

If your application meets the minimum eligibility criteria your application will progress to Stage 2.

3 March 2024
Sunday 11.59pm AEDT

Early applications close

3 April 2024
Wednesday 11.59pm AEDT

Applications close

Mid-April – mid-May 2024

Stage 2: Written assessment
Your written answers, and reference supplied by your academic referee submitted in your initial application, will be assessed by a panel of assessors. 80 students will be shortlisted to progress to Stage 3.

Mid-May – late June 2024

Stage 3: On-demand video interview
You will be invited to complete an online interview where you will get the opportunity to tell us more about you. We ask questions to better understand your potential to thrive in the program. 40 students will be shortlisted to progress to Stage 4.

Early to mid-August 2024

Stage 4: Live interview
You will be invited to attend a 15-minute interview with the selection panel, including patron Jane Hansen AO. If successful you will receive a conditional offer, subject to the release of your ATAR at the end of the year.

Mid-December 2024

Outcome
If you achieve an ATAR above the threshold set by the Selection Committee, you will receive an unconditional offer.

To be eligible to apply for the Hansen Scholarship, you must:

  • Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and be enrolled in an Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate in Australia; or
  • Have applied for or be the holder of an Australian temporary or permanent protection visa, and be enrolled in an Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate in Australia; or
  • Be an Australian citizen and be enrolled in an Australian Year 12 or the International Baccalaureate outside Australia
  • Be aged between 16 and 20 years of age in the year of application
  • Be on track to achieve a minimum Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) of at least 90 (or the IB equivalent)
  • Experience financial circumstances that present a challenge to attending the University of Melbourne (e.g. you or your family receive Centrelink benefits).

Selection criteria

  • Track record of academic excellence and a commitment to academic success in university studies
  • Demonstrated ability to achieve success in the face of adversity and overcome obstacles
  • Demonstrated ability to apply skills and strengths towards activities which benefit others
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team and lead those around you
  • Likelihood of thriving as a Hansen Scholar and actively contributing to the Hansen Scholarship Program.

Applicants will undergo a preliminary screening stage which may involve written materials, references, video or other creative products, and such other methods to produce a short-list of suitable applicants. The final selection process will involve face-to-face interviews with short-listed candidates.

Conditions

  • You must have received an offer from the University of Melbourne for commencement of your undergraduate course in the year following completion of Australian Year 12 or IB
  • You must have achieved a minimum indicative ATAR of 90.00
  • You must not have previously undertaken any tertiary studies (excluding extension studies completed as part of a Year 12 program) before commencing at the University of Melbourne
  • The scholarship can be deferred to the following year if there are compassionate or compelling circumstances that prevent the student from commencing their course in the year for which the scholarship was offered
  • You cannot hold a Melbourne Chancellor's Scholarship, Melbourne National Merit Scholarship or Narrm Scholarship at the same time as the Hansen Scholarship.

For full selection criteria, eligibility and details visit the scholarships website.

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.

You're eligible if:

  • you or your parents are in receipt of a means-tested Centrelink benefit (such as Family Tax Benefit A, ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance etc), or
  • you are able to otherwise demonstrate financial need (supporting documentation will be required, usually the most recent Notice of Assessment from the Australian Tax Office for every person who contributes to your household income).

Applicants will be asked to upload documentation (e.g. Centrelink statement of benefits) as part of their application.

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.