2027 Community Bank Huon Valley University & TAFE Scholarship Program (CEF)(U)(T)

The Community Bank Huon Valley Scholarship Program supports people from the Huon Valley community who are experiencing financial, social or other barriers to undertaking university, vocational education or training.

The program aims to assist students to access educational opportunities that support their future study, career pathways and employment opportunities.

The Scholarship program supports the following study related expenses – accommodation costs, course costs, study-related materials/equipment, textbooks, tutoring and /or education related travel (within Australia).   

Key general qualification criteria: 

• You are an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
• Students must reside in or attend school in the Huon Valley Council area 
• You have previously never received a Community Bank Huon Valley Scholarship. 
• You must be enrolled in, or have received an offer for, an eligible course of study.
• You can demonstrate challenging circumstances that may affect your ability to undertake further education.
• You can demonstrate motivation to achieve your education, training or career goals.
• You can demonstrate community participation, contribution, volunteering, employment, caring responsibilities, or other forms of community involvement.

For study at University (undergraduate bachelor's degree level): 

Qualification criteria: 

• You will be undertaking an undergraduate bachelor’s degree level in 2027 to study either for your  first year, second year, third year or fourth year
• Applicants studying a university diploma may also be considered where the diploma provides a recognised pathway into a bachelor's degree.
• Eligible study may be full-time or part-time, on-campus, online or blended learning (a combination of online and on-campus study).
• Must be an approved Australian course at an Australian university, TAFE Institute or College.
• Students under the age of 18 years will require parental /guardian consent to accept this scholarship

For study at TAFE/VET (in courses other than undergraduate bachelor’s degree):

Qualification criteria: 

• You have been offered a place to commence study in 2027 at an approved Australian TAFE institute in an approved Australian course*. 
• You can be studying on campus and /or off campus (including online).
• You can be studying on a full-time or part-time basis.

*Eligible courses include: 

• Full-time or competency-based completion (Apprenticeships),
• Certificate I, II, III or IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma or Associate degree 
• Course must be of at least 10 weeks’ duration for full-time study or the part time equivalent.

*Ineligible courses include: 

• Short courses
• Foundation level training
• Workshops
• Non-accredited training
• Courses that do not lead to a recognised qualification
• School based apprenticeships

How Applications Are Assessed:

Scholarships will be awarded on the recommendation of a selection committee and will be based on how an applicant addresses the qualification criteria.

Applications are assessed against:

• Challenging circumstances and barriers to education
• Educational and career goals
• Potential impact of scholarship support
• Community participation and contribution
• Alignment with the purpose of the scholarship program

What Do We Mean by Challenging Circumstances?

Challenging circumstances may include:

• Financial hardship 
• Caring responsibilities
• Disability or health-related challenges
• Educational disadvantage
• Geographic isolation
• Cultural or social barriers
• Family circumstances impacting education
• Other circumstances that create barriers to participating in education or training

For each successful recipient, the scholarship award value is up to: 

• University $5,000 per year, for 1 year.
• TAFE $3,000 per year, for 1 year.

Please select your relevant scholarship type in the application form – TAFE, University, or Other (if you are attending a different registered training organisation). 

For further information please contact the Community Bank Huon Valley’s Community Liaison Officer Fiona Verrills via phone on 0400 797 164 or email at communitybank.huonvalley@gmail.com.

The Scholarship Selection Committee reserves the right, at its discretion, not to award this scholarship in any given year. 

Community Bank Branch Scholarships are funded from management accounts of the Community Enterprise Charitable Fund ABN 12 102 649 968 (the Fund), The Bendigo Centre, Bendigo VIC 3550. Sandhurst Trustees Limited ABN 16 004 030 737 AFSL 237906, a subsidiary of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited ABN 11 068 049 178, AFSL 237879, is the trustee of the Fund. 

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Before you begin:

Welcome to the Bendigo Bank online grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants. For queries about the guidelines, deadlines, or questions in the form, please email us at foundation@bendigobank.com.au and quote your submission number. If you need more help using this form, download the Help Guide for Applicants or check out Applicant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Saving your draft application:  

If you wish to leave a partially completed application, press 'save and close' and log out. When you log back in and click on the 'My Submissions' link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any applications you have started or submitted. You can reopen your draft application and start where you left off. You can also download any application, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. Click on the 'Download PDF' button located at the bottom of the last page of the application form.

Submitting your application:

You will find a Review and Submit button at the bottom of the Navigation Panel. You need to review your application before you can submit it. Once you have reviewed your application you can submit it by clicking on 'Submit' at the top or bottom of the screen or on the navigation panel. You will not be able to submit your application until all the compulsory questions are completed and there are no validation errors.

Once you have submitted your application, no further editing or uploading of support materials is possible. When you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email with a copy of your submitted application attached. This will be sent to the email you used to register. If you do not receive a confirmation of submission email then you should presume that your submission has NOT been submitted. Hint: check the email hasn't landed in your spam/junk email folder.

Attachments and supporting documents:

You will need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is simple but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device. You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.