Manage your scholarship
Learn how to manage your scholarship payments and meet financial reporting obligations.
Information for scholarship holders
Learn what you need to do while you hold an undergraduate or graduate coursework scholarship.
Use this information to receive your scholarship payments or fee sponsorship, update your bank and address details, meet Centrelink and tax reporting requirements and access scholarship documentation.
If you are a graduate researcher, visit the Graduate Research Hub for research scholarship information.
Coursework scholarship benefits
Check your offer to confirm your scholarship benefits. You may receive:
- One-off payments paid either when you start your course, such as a relocation or establishment allowance, or after the main semester census dates.
- Regular payments scheduled after each main semester census date, or made every fortnight, as in the case of a stipend for research students.
- Tuition fee sponsorships applied automatically when you enrol in subjects will show as a partial or full sponsorship on your tuition fee account.
- Accommodation allowance paid directly to the accommodation provider.
Start receiving your scholarship
Complete the tasks that apply to your benefit type. Scholarship payments can only begin once your scholarship is active and you provide your Australian bank account and address details.
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If you receive a scholarship, you'll be notified in an official offer email sent to your University account. The offer will include the details about the scholarship, including the benefits and conditions.
Check your official email or award letter for specific deadlines and instructions and make sure to accept the offer before the specified lapse date.
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To receive scholarship payments, provide your bank details.
How to update your bank details
- Log into my.unimelb
- Go to Student admin > Financial support
- Under Manage your scholarships click Update bank details
- Enter or update your preferred payment details
- Click Save.
Please note:
- Scholarship payments can only be made to an Australian bank account with an authorised financial institution.
- Some providers require you to verify your identity in Australia before using your account, while others offer online account setup. Research your options on the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority website before choosing a provider.
- Payments may be delayed if we do not have your bank details or if the details you provided are incorrect.
- You will need the name and six-digit BSB number of your bank. If you do not know your BSB, contact your bank.
- Enter BSB and account numbers using numbers only. Do not include spaces, letters or special characters, as including these may delay your payment.
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To receive scholarship payments, provide your Australian address details in my.unimelb.
For information on how to check or update your address details, see How do I update my contact details?
Make sure the name of your suburb is spelt correctly and your postcode and suburb match. If you are not sure, check the Australia Post Find a Postcode website.
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As specified in your offer letter, there are conditions for receiving scholarship benefits. See your terms and conditions for more information:
Coursework scholarship conditions
Mobility award conditions
Prestigious travelling scholarship conditions -
Scholarship benefits do not commence until your course does.
Manage your payments
Confirm that your payments and benefits are in place by checking your payment history and payment dates. Understand whether any payments are required under tuition fee sponsorship.
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Payment timing may vary depending on your scholarship. Check your scholarship offer and the payment schedule to confirm when you will receive payment.
- One-off and half-yearly scholarship payments are usually made in April or September.
- Quarterly payments are usually made in April, June, September and November.
- Some scholarships and prizes may be paid at other times throughout the year.
- Payments are usually made after census date.
Allow 7–16 working days for payment processing.
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You can view your scholarship payments and payment history in my.unimelb.
- Log into my.unimelb
- Go to Student admin > Financial support
- Click View scholarship details, leave and sanctions
- You should now see your Scholarship Summary
- Select Scholarship payslips from right-hand menu
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If your scholarship benefit is tuition fee sponsorship (also known as fee remission), it will be applied automatically before you start your course. You do not need to provide a bank account, but you should supply your address.
Your benefit will show as a partial or full sponsorship on your Fee Account Statement. If you are enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place, it will show as an exemption of your student contribution amount.
If you do receive an invoice for tuition fees, please submit an enquiry to the Scholarships team or contact Stop 1. In most cases this happens because your scholarship hasn’t yet been activated or your enrolment has changed.
Please note: Scholarships that provide tuition fee sponsorship do not cover the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). If the SSAF or any other non-tuition fee appears on your Statement of Liability, you are required to pay it.
Report your scholarship income
Depending on your circumstances, you may need to report scholarship income to Services Australia (Centrelink) and/or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). It is your responsibility to understand and meet any reporting requirements that apply to you.
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Most scholarships provided by the University of Melbourne are equity- or merit-based. Payments from these scholarships are exempt from the Centrelink income test if the payments are below the Centrelink payment threshold. Scholarship amounts over the threshold may affect your Centrelink payment rate.
Commonwealth scholarships, tuition fee remission scholarships, and scholarships that make payments to a third party (such as an accommodation provider) are not considered income for Centrelink purposes.
If you receive Centrelink payments, you must report any scholarship income directly to Services Australia. The University does not do this on your behalf.
If Services Australia (Centrelink) asks for
- a scholarship reference number, use your student ID number
- evidence of your scholarship, see Evidence of your scholarship below.
For further information, please refer to the Services Australia website.
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Scholarship payments are generally exempt from income tax if:
- You are enrolled as a full-time student
- The scholarship is provided for educational purposes, and not as part of an employment agreement.
If you are enrolled part time, you may need to declare scholarship payments as assessable income in your tax return.
We do not withhold income tax from scholarship payments made to part-time students.
If you are unsure about your tax obligations, seek independent tax advice.
For more information, see:
Note: You will not receive a myGov income statement or other tax statement if we are not withholding income tax from your scholarship payments.
Get evidence of your scholarship
Your scholarships, bursaries or prizes will be included in your academic transcript and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS), as well as your Statement of Results.
How to view your scholarship details
- Log into my.unimelb
- Go to Student admin > Financial support
- Click View scholarship details, leave and sanctions
- View your scholarship details in the table on the Scholarship Summary page
- Click the export icon to save the summary table, if desired.
The table shows the start and end date, and value of your scholarship.
When to purchase detailed evidence
You may need more detailed evidence of your scholarship when applying for a visa, loan, course, scholarship or other financial support. You can purchase an Evidence of Scholarship Statement.
The Evidence of Scholarship Statement document includes:
- Your full name, date of birth and student ID number
- The name, start and end date, and value of your scholarship(s).
Once you place an order, a digital copy will be sent to your student email address.
Maintain your scholarship eligibility
To continue receiving your scholarship, you must meet the conditions that apply to your award. See your conditions to understand how changes to your enrolment, academic progress, or leave of absence can affect your scholarship.
Need help with your scholarship?
Ask the Stop 1 AI Assistant or contact us using one of the channels below.