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Scholarships
- Overview
- Managing your scholarship
- Changes to enrolment
Managing your scholarship
Payments
The value and schedule of payment will vary between scholarships. Refer to your scholarship conditions for this information.
Coursework scholarships are generally paid once a semester (following census date) while postgraduate research scholarships are usually paid each fortnight.
You’ll need to contact us if you have:
- not received payment
- believe you have been paid incorrectly
- need a statement of income to confirm your scholarship payments.
Overpayments
There are some situations where you may receive an overpayment. For example, if you vary your enrolment without informing the Scholarships Office or if an enrolment change is processed only a few days before a University pay day.
If your scholarship is overpaid, you’re required to return the overpaid amount to the University as soon as possible. It is important that you respond to overpayment advice.
If you wish to discuss the overpayment, please contact the Scholarships Office. If you are a research student you should contact the Higher Degree by Research Administration Centre (HDRAC).
Changing your bank details
If your bank details change, you should update them immediately to ensure your scholarship payments aren’t affected.
- Coursework students can update their details through Sydney Student (go to ‘My finance’, ‘Your finances’).
- Higher Degree by Research students who are also employed by the University can update their details through Workday.
- Higher Degree by Research students not employed by the University need to contact HDRAC at hdrac.scholarships@sydney.edu.au.
If you have changed your bank details once before, to change them again you will need to contact hr.payroll@sydney.edu.au to have them changed manually.
Tax and Centrelink
Tax
Use the Australian Taxation Office’s Is my Scholarship Taxable? tool to work out if you are liable to pay tax on your scholarship.
Centrelink
If you have applied for or are in receipt of Centrelink benefits, you are required to report any income, including scholarship payments.
Scholarship payments may be considered personal income and may affect your Centrelink payment rate.
See the Centrelink website for more details.
Showing cause/retaining your scholarship
As a scholarship recipient, you often need to maintain a satisfactory level of academic achievement. Refer to the terms and conditions of your scholarship for details.
If you have not met the minimum academic requirements, we may contact you through Sydney Student to ask you to ‘show cause’ – a process where you explain to the University the reasons for non-adherence to the requirements. For example, personal or medical issues could be affecting your ability to study. In such cases, you may need to provide evidence to support your explanations.
Assessment of your ‘show cause’ case may take up to six weeks. In this time, you will not receive any payments from the University. If you require assistance during this time, you may be eligibile for financial support.
Multiple scholarships
Scholarships are classified as ‘primary’ or ‘secondary’. A 'primary' scholarship is valued at $8000 or more per annum. A 'secondary' scholarship is valued at less than $8000 per annum. The scholarship classification is available in its terms and conditions.
You can hold only one ‘primary’ scholarship at a time. There is no restriction on the number of ‘secondary’ scholarships that you can hold. Additionally, there are no restrictions on the number of external scholarships you can hold.
Employment
As a scholarship holder, there may be limitations on the hours of employment you can undertake. If you’re employed by the University, you can hold a maximum of 50 percent of a full-time appointment if you are a full-time student.
If you’re employed casually or externally to the University, you can work up to 20 hours in any one week (including weekends) as a full-time student.
If you’re a scholarship holder who has been approved as a part-time student, you can usually work a maximum of 10 hours per week.
Some external funding bodies may specify higher limitations than this on employment.
Last updated: 04 December 2023
