Financial assistance for students affected by COVID-19 pandemic

 

A little while back the university announced a $12.5 million comprehensive package to support students facing hardship as a result of COVID-19. You can see the original article below.

$12.5m student support package

Elements of that package are now available. Get in quickly!

And if you are wondering why financial assistance blog posts are on the Student Health and Wellbeing Blog, check out this blog post from a while back where I looked at Financial Wellbeing as a key pillar of overall wellbeing.

 


The first financial support is the COVID-19 emergency support payment

‘One-off payments will be made to successful applicants who are not eligible for other financial support (including Centrelink Student Payments, JobSeeker payments, and JobKeeper payments). Payments of $500 will be made to successful applicants living independently, and payments of $250 will be made to successful applicants who live with parents/caregivers. Additional criteria may apply.’


 

The second, and bigger financial support is the Matthew Flinders Scholarship Fund

I’ve reproduced the content from the page below:

Flinders University :Matthew Flinders Scholarship Fund

Opening Date: 14-04-2020   Closing Date: 27-04-2020

Purpose

Scholarships will be awarded to financially assist students who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of reducing financial stress so that students can continue their studies at Flinders University.

Source of funds

Scholarships will be funded by Flinders University as well as community donations. The funds have been pooled in an account named the “Matthew Flinders Scholarship Fund” within the University’s Karmel Endowment Fund.

Benefits

Each Scholarship is to be used to assist students to support the continuation of their studies at Flinders University. Each Scholarship will be valued up to $2,000.

The scholarship amount awarded will be paid in two equal instalments. Payment will be made after the Semester 1 and Semester 2 census dates. Recipients will not normally be eligible for a second or subsequent Matthew Flinders Scholarship.

The number of scholarships and amount of scholarship payments will be dependent on available funds.

Eligibility

Applicants for the Scholarship must:

  • be enrolled at Flinders University; and
  • be able to demonstrate financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
  • meet the Assessment Criteria.

Assessment Criteria

To be considered, applicants must be:

An International Student currently enrolled at Flinders and living onshore in Australia who is not in receipt of a sponsorship that includes a living allowance.

OR

An Australian or NZ citizen, Australian Permanent resident or a permanent humanitarian visa holder who is:

  • Not in receipt of a Centrelink payment (excluding Family Tax Payment); or
  • Not in receipt of a Government “JobKeeper” payment; and
  • Deemed to be ineligible for Centrelink Student payments (i.e. under 22 years, and “dependant” on parental/caregiver income).

 

Scholarship Payment Schedule

The scholarship amount (not to exceed $2,000) determined to be allocated/awarded to an eligible student applicant by the Scholarship Committee will be paid in two equal instalments. Payment will be made after the Semester 1 and Semester 2 census dates. Recipients will not normally be eligible for a second or subsequent Matthew Flinders Scholarship.

Selection

The Scholarship selection will be made based on greatest financial hardship/need as determined in the discretion of the Matthew Flinders Scholarship Committee based on the information contained in scholarship applications received and otherwise in accordance with the Fund Terms of Reference.

Applications

Applications must be submitted online through the Flinders University Student System.

Applicants will need to login and navigate to the My Scholarships tab to apply. The application form for this scholarship is called ” Matthew Flinders Scholarship”. Please read the how to apply page and ensure all of your personal details are up-to-date in the Student System as you will be assessed using this information.

Scholarship Payment

Successful applicants will be paid directly into their nominated Australian Bank Account.

You will need to enter your bank account details into the Student System, accessible via the Flinders Dashboard. Once you have logged in, please follow the following instructions:

  1. Select the Student System
  2. Go to the My Finances tab
  3. Select Enter Banking Details
  4. Select Change
  5. Select the Payment Method of Electronic Funds Transfer
  6. Bank Code needs to be set as Type BSB
  7. Enter the BSB and account numbers in the fields provided. This needs to follow the format ***-***
  8. Double check your details and save your changes

 

  • View rules for this scholarship scheme.

Scholarship Type: undergraduate, honours, postgraduate, research, financial, commencing, continuing, Indigenous students, international students, regional/remote/rural students,


In addition, make sure to check whether you might be eligible for other financial support from the government.

Posted in
Flinders services and programs

Leave a Reply