Postgraduate Scholarships 2008 Conditions Booklet
(APA, MRS, MIRS, FMS, HRS, Prestigious and Other Major Scholarships)
6. Stipends
6.1 Living allowance (ie. stipend)
The 2008 per annum stipend rates for full-time study are listed below. Section 15.2 provides information about the stipend rate for scholarships held for part-time studies.
- APAs: $20,007
- MRSs, MIRSs and FMSs awarded for graduate research degree studies: $19,425. For FMSs awarded for postgraduate coursework studies: see section 15.4
- HRSs awarded for research higher degree studies: $22,000. For HRSs awarded for postgraduate coursework studies: see section 15.4
- Prestigious and other major scholarships: as specified in the offer letter.
The stipend rates are reviewed annually and usually increase by about 2% per annum. Stipend payments are made once every fortnight into the student's nominated bank account. The pay dates schedule may be downloaded from the MSO website (www.unimelb.edu.au/scholarships), or obtained from the MSO.
See section 6.7 for information about taxation and scholarships.
6.2 Relocation grant for local1 students
To encourage recipients of an APA, MRS, FMS, HRS or the prestigious and other major scholarships to accept their scholarship offer and relocate to Melbourne, the University awards a $2,500 Relocation Grant (this may be taxed) to local students who:
- are moving from another Australian state or overseas to Melbourne to commence their scholarship, and
- who have not studied at the University of Melbourne within the last 12 months.
Interstate students who transfer their APA to Melbourne may also receive the Relocation Grant. See section 14 for information about transfers.
Relocation Grants are not awarded to international students2. Section 6.3.2 provides information about relocation support for international students.
The Relocation Grant is not available for APA(I) holders.
The Relocation Grant is paid in full with the student's first stipend payment. A separate application is not required.
1Local students are Australian or NZ citizens or Australian permanent residents.
top of page6.3 Other relocation allowances
6.3.1 Local1 students
A Relocation Allowance is available to recipients of an APA, APA(I), MRS, FMS, HRS, and the prestigious and other major scholarships who relocate to Melbourne to commence their scholarship. It is also available to students who transfer their APA from another institution to the University of Melbourne and, in doing so, need to relocate to Melbourne (see section 14 for information about transfers).
The allowance comprises:
- travel expenses to Melbourne from within Australia or overseas, up to the value of the cheapest economy or student concession airfare3, for the student, and if applicable, partner and dependants4, and
- removal expenses.
The maximum Relocation Allowance that can be claimed is $530 per adult and $265 per dependant. The absolute maximum Relocation Allowance that a student may received is $1,530.
Claims for the Relocation Allowance must be made within six months of the scholarship commencement date. Original receipts and supporting documents (ie. if claiming for your partner or dependant/s) must accompany the Relocation Allowance form.
6.3.2 International2 students
The relocation provisions for international students who have received a MIRS or HRS depends on whether they are relocating to Melbourne from another area of Australia or from overseas.
(a) Relocation from within Australia
International students already residing in Australia who need to relocate to Melbourne to commence a MIRS or HRS may claim a travel allowance for themselves. The amount that can be claimed is equivalent to the cheapest economy class or student concession airfare3 up to a maximum of $530.
Claims for the Relocation Allowance must be made within six months of the scholarship commencement date. Original receipts and supporting documents must accompany the application.
(b) Relocation from overseas
MIRS and HRS recipients relocating to Melbourne from their residence overseas may request advance payment of their scholarship to reimburse them for the cost of their airfare once they have commenced their scholarship. To request this payment, please submit to the MSO a written request and original airfare ticket. If approved, the airfare up to an amount of AUD$2,000, will be deducted from the living allowance in the first year of the course only. Please note that advance payment of the scholarship is possible for this purpose only.
2International students are students who are not Australian or NZ citizens or Australian permanent residents.
3APA, APA(I), MRS, MIRS, FMS, HRS or prestigious and other major scholarship recipients who travel to Melbourne by car will receive the same per kilometre allowance as the UoM pays to its staff. At the time of writing this was 52c per kilometre. The MSO will update the online version of its scholarships conditions booklet if this rate changes. Fuel receipts must be provided as evidence of travel. Students cannot claim for car hire, accommodation or meal costs if they travel by car.
4For the purposes of relocation entitlements, a dependant is defined as a person who moves residence with the scholarship holder. A partner who transfers employment to Melbourne can be regarded as a dependant. A child continuing to study at the former city and not intending to live in Melbourne on a permanent basis with the scholarship holder is not regarded as a dependant.
An eligible child is a natural or adopted child of the student or their spouse, who is less than 18 years of age, or less than 25 years of age and undertaking full-time study.
6.4 Thesis allowance
The Thesis Allowance contributes to the costs incurred by producing or resubmitting a thesis, including binding, printing, and paper costs. It does not cover the cost of computer equipment/software or taxi travel. Reimbursement for editorial assistance is only possible if the University's RHD committee has endorsed the involvement of a paid editor. As noted in the PhD handbook available from the Melbourne School of Graduate Research (SGR), such approval is extremely rare.
For thesis claims submitted in 2008, the maximum amounts that can be claimed are:
- $ 420 for a masters thesis
- $ 840 for a PhD or other research doctorate thesis.
To apply for the Thesis Allowance, complete and submit the Thesis Allowance form within the time limits specified below.
For all scholarships excpet the Australian Postrgraduate Award (Industry) [APA(I)], claims for the Thesis Allowance must be made within 1 year of submitting the thesis for examination and no more than 2 years after the scholarship has ceased. Claims for costs associated with the resubmission of a thesis, or submission of hard-bound copies, must be made within 1 year of the thesis resubmission or lodgement date.
Recipients of the Australian Postrgraduate Award (Industry) [APA(I)] should refer to section 15.3 for the timeframes that apply to the submission of their Thesis Allowance claims.
In exceptional circumstances, students may apply for a waiver of the usual time limits for submitting a thesis claim. Such requests must be submitted to the MSO with supporting documents to explain why the claim is being made outside the permitted time. Requests will only be approved if the Graduate Research Scholarships Committee (GRSC) believes that exceptional circumstances that are beyond the student's control warrant an extension of time.
6.5 Course (i.e. tuition) fees
APAs, MRSs, MIRSs, FMSs, HRSs and the prestigious and other major scholarships do not cover course fees. Please note, however the following points:
(a) Local1 students who receive one of above mentioned scholarships to undertake a graduate research degree5 course are not usually charged course fees as they are allocated a Research Training Scheme (RTS) place. RTS places exempt students from the Higher Education Contribution (HECS) Scheme. Time limits and other conditions apply to RTS places, and the University may opt to impose course fees if a student exhausts their RTS entitlement. For further information about RTS entitlements, students should contact their faculty office or visit http://www.sgs.unimelb.edu.au/prospectivepg/scholarship/
(b) MIRS recipients often also receive a fee remission scholarship such as the Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarships (IPRS) or the Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarships (MIFRS).
(c) Students who receive a FMS or HRS to undertake a postgraduate coursework program6 will be required to pay course fees.
(d) For further information about course fees and financial aid, please visit http://www.futurestudents.unimelb.edu.au.
5To be deemed a research higher degree course, the research component must account for at least 66% of the course requirements.
6If the research component of a postgraduate course accounts for less than 66% of the course, it is regarded as a postgraduate coursework program.
6.6 Voluntary Student Union (VSU) fees
None of the scholarships described in this booklet cover VSU fees. For information about the VSU, please visit http://www.studentadmin.edu.au.
6.7 Taxation and Scholarships
6.7.1 General Information
The University is unable to provide advice about tax. It is the responsibility of individual students to obtain their own taxation advice.
The Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) website provides a good starting point for information about taxation and scholarships. Please visit www.ato.gov.au/individuals/ and from this page select the Study link from the menu on the left hand side to access a page about tax and scholarships.
As the web cannot, however, be relied upon solely to make a decision, students should also obtain independent tax advice to ensure that their individual circumstances are covered.
Given the points above, the information that is provided below should be used as a guide only.
Payment of a scholarship, studentship, bursary or an educational allowance is exempt from income tax when all of the following conditions are fulfilled:
- the payment is to a student enrolled in a full time course,
- the student is not required to be, or become, an employee of the University or a scholarship sponsor as a condition of the scholarship,
- the terms of the scholarship do not amount to a contract for labour with the scholarship sponsor7 or the university, and
- the scholarship is provided principally for educational purposes.
7The scholarship sponsor is the organisation providing funds to the University for scholarship payments.
For payments subject to income tax, the University is required to withhold PAYG tax from the scholarship payment.
6.7.2 Part-time enrolments
Scholarships held by students who are enrolled on a part-time basis are not tax exempt. Scholarship payments made through the Melbourne Scholarships Office (MSO) will have tax withheld at the student's marginal tax rate or as required by the tax declaration form.
If you have determined that your scholarship may be held on a part-time basis (see section 15.2), you will need to submit the forms listed below to the MSO.
- A tax declaration form. This form may be downloaded from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) website, AND
- A Change of Status form to alter your enrolment status from full-time to part-time. As scholarships may only be held on a part-time basis if socially compelling reasons preclude a full-time enrolment, please state on the form the reasons why you are unable to be enrolled on a full-time basis and attach documents to verify your situation. PhD, MPhil, MSc, MIS and MSc students may download a copy of the Change of Status form from the School of Graduate Research website. Students enrolled in other courses should obtain a Change of Status form from their faculty office.