Postgraduate Scholarships 2008 Conditions Booklet
(APA, MRS, MIRS, FMS, HRS, Prestigious and Other Major Scholarships)
7. Leave arrangements
(a) Students must apply for leave (except recreation leave) from their scholarship on the appropriate form. The forms are available from the MSO and the MSO website.
(b) The scholarship may be terminated if the student does not:
- apply for leave
- resume studies at the end of the period of leave
- make formal arrangements to extend the period of leave.
(c) International students must ensure that any periods of leave that they take comply with the requirements of their student visa. Under the ESOS legislation, leave of absence must be for exceptional circumstances (eg. grounds of illness as evidenced by a doctor's certificate, or exceptional compassionate circumstances such as bereavement). All international students taking leave of absence from their course of study must depart Australia within two weeks of the date from when the leave was granted, unless special permission has been granted on medical grounds.
(d) Periods of leave cannot be back-dated to before the HECS census dates of 31 March and 31 August.
(e) Scholarships cannot be extended to compensate for periods of leave (where appropriate) beyond a student's submission date.
7.1 Recreation leave
Students are entitled to 20 days paid recreation leave each year of the award and this may be accrued. The student will, however, forfeit any unused leave remaining when an award is terminated or completed. The student must obtain their supervisor's agreement before recreation leave is taken, but formal applications to the MSO are not required.
7.2. Sick leave
Students are entitled to receive up to 10 days sick leave each year of the scholarship and this may be accrued over the tenure of the scholarship. An application is not necessary for this entitlement.
Scholarship recipients may also receive additional paid sick leave of up to 12 weeks during the tenure of their award for medically substantiated periods of illness that last for more than 10 days. If additional paid sick leave is approved, the scholarship will be extended by the same amount of time for which the additional sick leave was granted.
Students must notify the MSO in writing as soon as they know that, due to poor health, they will be unable to study for more than 10 days. Additional paid sick leave will only be granted if the student subsequently submits to the MSO the appropriate leave form with a medical certificate within 2 weeks of their return to study.
APA(I) recipients please read Condition 15.3.
top of page7.3 Maternity leave
Students who have held their scholarship for at least 12 months full-time (or equivalent) are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks paid maternity leave throughout the tenure of their scholarship. Paid maternity leave must be taken at the time of the birth.
This leave should be arranged in advance of the birth by submitting a leave form with a doctor's certificate attached.
Paid maternity leave is in addition to the normal duration of the scholarship. The scholarship will be extended by the same amount of time for which paid maternity leave is granted.
Additional (unpaid) maternity leave is possible by applying for Leave of Absence. Scholarship recipients who are not entitled to paid maternity leave, as they have not held their scholarship for at least 12 months, may wish to access maternity leave by applying for Leave of Absence. See Section 8 for details.
7.4 Parenting leave
Scholarship recipients who are partners of women giving birth, and who have held their scholarship for at least 12 months full-time (or equivalent), may apply for up to 5 days paid parenting leave.
To apply for parenting leave, submit to the MSO a leave application form with a doctor's certificate attached. The scholarship will be extended by the same amount of time for which paid parenting leave was granted.
Additional (unpaid) parenting leave may be taken by applying for Leave of Absence. Scholarship recipients who are not entitled to paid parenting leave as they have not held the scholarship for at least 12 months may also wish to access parenting leave by applying for Leave of Absence. See Section 8 for details.
7.5 Family leave
Students may opt to use some of the sick leave entitlement (section 7.2) if they need to support members of their immediate family or household who are dependent upon the student when:
- the person is ill, or
- an emergency renders it essential that the student attend to that person.
Normally, it is possible for students to take up to 5 days of sick leave as Family Leave per year. Please note that this entitlement is not in addition to the sick leave entitlement described in 7.2.
Students who require additional time to care for their immediate family can use recreation leave (section 7.1) or Leave of Absence (section 8).
Applications for Family Leave are not necessary as the entitlement is for less than 10 days per year.
7.6 Adoption leave
Students who have held their scholarship for at least 12 months full-time (or equivalent) are entitled to a maximum of 12 weeks paid adoption leave throughout the tenure of their scholarship, provided the child is under the age of 5 years and is placed with the scholarship recipient for the purposes of adoption. Paid adoption leave must be taken at the time of the adoption.
This leave should be arranged in advance of the adoption by submitting a leave form with an adoption certificate or letter attached.
Paid adoption leave is in addition to the normal duration of the scholarship. The scholarship will be extended by the same amount of time for which paid adoption leave is granted.
Additional (unpaid) adoption leave is possible by applying for Leave of Absence. Scholarship recipients who are not entitled to paid adoption leave as they have not held their scholarship for at least 12 months may wish to access adoption leave by applying for Leave of Absence. See Section 8 for details.
7.7 Jury duty leave
Students who hold a scholarship that provides a stipend will be granted paid jury duty leave if the jury duty entails 5 or more days.
Other notes:
- Up to 12 weeks of paid jury leave is possible throughout the duration of the scholarship.
- Paid jury leave does not diminish other leave entitlements.
- The payment received for jury service attendance does not reduce the student's scholarship payments. Students should, however, ask the Australian Tax Office (ATO) if there are any tax implications.
- Before accepting jury duty, all students should discuss the implications of taking leave with their supervisor and/or co-ordinator. For example, FMS and HRS recipients who are undertaking a postgraduate coursework program should find out if the leave taken for jury duty will result in ‘withdrawn' being recorded on their transcript.
To apply for jury duty leave, please submit to the MSO a leave application form with a statement from the Juries Commissioner's Office that specifies the number of days and period when the student was a member of the jury (this information is provided on the payment slip prepared by the Juries Commissioner's Office).