Help/FAQ

Applicants must:

• be Australian Citizens or Australian Permanent Residents.
• be enrolled in an accredited, eligible allied health course that results in a nationally recognized and accredited qualification.
• be enrolled as a full-time or part-time student in an accredited/approved Australian undergraduate/ postgraduate/doctorate level eligible allied health course.
• Undertake clinical placements (minimum 1 week to maximum 6 weeks) in a relevant calendar year in an Australian rural/remote community.
• Undertake clinical placements away from the university town.
• Undertake clinical placements within ASGC-RA 2-5 classifications.
• not receive support for the same clinical placement from state or territory government programs or other sources.
• comply with the requirements of the clinical placement organization.

*Entry level (1st year) undergraduates are NOT considered under this scheme. If you are a New Zealand Citizen, please click here to determine your eligibility for Australian Citizenship/Residency.

The eligible allied health professions for the 2014 round of scholarships include:

• Aboriginal Health Worker (Cert IV and above only)
• Audiology
• Chinese Medicine
• Chiropractic
• Dental & Oral Health (includes Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, Dental Prosthetics)
• Dietetics & Nutrition
• Exercise Physiology (AAESS approved only)
• Genetic Counselling (Postgraduate study only)
• Medical Radiation Science: (Medical Imaging; Nuclear Medicine Technology; Radiation Therapy)
• Occupational Therapy
• Optometry
• Orthoptics
• Osteopathy
• Paramedics
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Prosthetics and Orthotics
• Psychology (honours, postgraduate and Clinical Psychology)
• Social Work (Australian Association of Social Workers approved courses only)
• Speech Pathology, and
• Sonography

The eligibility criteria and application process for the Tasmanian Clinical Placement Scholarship is the same as for the current NAHSSS Clinical Placement Scholarship, noting that these additional scholarships can only be awarded for Clinical Placements undertaken in Tasmania.

YES, you can still submit your application without the confirmed details on your Clinical Placement. If your application is successful, you will then be requested to submit these details within an agreed timeframe after the application period. 

For information about other Australian Government scholarship programs, please visit the Department of Health and Ageing website at www.health.gov.au.

Under NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement, study at honours level is covered by the scholarship only if the honours component is an integral part of your undergraduate/entry level degree.

You may attend any Australian university or tertiary institution of your choice provided that upon graduation, you will have a qualification nationally recognized by your professional organization enabling you to work in your chosen field. The important point to remember is that your profession must be one of those listed in Question 2.

You must correct this information prior to the closing date of the scholarship’s application period. You may log in and correct any information in your application form prior to the closing date. 

Please be aware that deliberately misleading information shall result in the withdrawal of the offer of a conditional scholarship, or repayment of scholarship funds.

• Students who hold scholarships, bursaries or prizes that provide funding for the same clinical placement as NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placements are not eligible for this scholarship.

Other scholarships, bursaries or prizes awarded must be disclosed to SARRAH even if they do not affect your eligibility.  All past/present scholarships held must be declared.

Other Ineligible Conditions:

• Students who have already been awarded NAHSSS:Allied Health Clinical Placement Scholarship during their course of study are not eligible to apply.
• For Nursing/Paramedics double degree, only Paramedics placement will be considered.
• Students who do not have a rural placement within the relevant funding round are not eligible.  (For example, the 2014 funding/application round awards scholarships for rural placements between 1st January to 31st December 2014).
• Placements within the University town is ineligible.
• Major City/Metropolitan placements are inelible. 

NOTE:  The NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement Scholarship is awarded once only during your course of study.

Exemption

• Recipients of NAHSSS Undergraduate and Clinical Psychology Scholarships are also eligible for NAHSSS Allied Health Clinical Placement Scholarship. 

We look at the eligibility of applicants. Every eligible applicant has an equal chance of being offered a scholarship.  However, due to limited number of places available, all eligible applicants cannot be guaranteed a scholarship. 

ASGC-RA stands for Australian Standard Geographic Classification – Remoteness Area. ASGC-RA (or RA for short) is the classification system used in NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement to determine the remoteness of clinical placement communities. ASGC-RA 2 to 5 communities are considered eligible for scholarship support.

Scholarship recipients will receive a stipend (living allowance) of $500 per week for up to six weeks to be used for food and living expenses. 

The scholarship will also contribute towards one return trip from place of residence to clinical placement facility and accommodation costs (for up to six weeks) at the clinical placement location.

Assistance towards these two costs are capped and may not cover the full amount. Any shortfalls in these expenses are to be paid for by the scholar. SARRAH does not disclose these capped amounts. The supervisor will receive an honorarium of $300 per clinical placement week in recognition of their support of the scholar and the Scheme for up to six weeks.

In addition, the Supervisors will receive an honorarium of $300 per clinical placement week in recognition of their support of the scholar and the scheme for up to six weeks.

For further information on scholarship allowances, please read the Guidelines.

No, NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement is not a bonded scholarship.

No, you do not have to provide receipts except where you have paid for your transport (flights/train/bus/taxi) or accommodation costs prior to being offered the scholarship and you are seeking reimbursement for these costs.

SARRAH will usually pay flight costs directly to its Travel Management Agency (Capital Travel Manuka) once these have been approved by the Administrator. If you are driving your own vehicle, you will be paid a travel allowance directly (no receipts required for this). 

The Administrator will also pay the Supervisor Honorarium to a nominated bank account by the supervisor upon receipt of the following:

1.     A completed Supervisor Registration;

2.     Online Supervisor Evaluation;

3.     A completed Statement by Supplier Form (if required) and;

4.     A valid Tax Invoice.

The Administrator will pay approved accommodation costs directly to the accommodation provider upon receipt of a valid tax invoice.

Yes, you can drive your vehicle to and from the clinical placement community at your own risk.  You must make a written request to drive your own vehicle and submit a valid driving licence. 

Mileage/petrol costs are calculated as follows: 

• By using ‘Google Maps’ as a guide to determine the number of kilometres travelled @ $0.70/km, then
•  Determining the cost of the most economical method of alternative transport.

The NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement Scholarship is not means tested and there are no set levels of eligible income. No assets test will apply.

Scholarship applicants and recipients are encouraged to seek advice from the Australian Taxation Office about any impact the awarding of a scholarship may have on their financial situation.   

Depending on the scholarship and your mode of study, scholarship payments may be taxable.

Information is available from the Australian Taxation Office at www.ato.gov.au

Personal circumstances differ; successful applicants will need to consult Centrelink about the impact of the scholarship payments on their Centrelink payments.

Information is available from Centrelink at www.centrelink.gov.au.

If you are not successful in 2014, you can re-apply in the following years if you are still otherwise eligible.

When offering conditional scholarships, we will send a scholar package via email or post. Conditionally awarded scholars must complete and return the scholar package with mandatory supporting documentation by the given deadline (or if you cannot gather all the information by the deadline, you should notify the Administrator of the delay in the documentation submission), so the Administrator can confirm scholarship eligibility and determine extensions. 

• Conditional Offer Terms & Conditons
• Conditional Offer Letter
• A Scholar Agreement – this sets out the terms and conditions of the scholarship and the scholars obligations;
• A checklist on the mandatory supporting documents required for the approval process.
• A Scholar Guide.

Failure to comply with the requirements of the scholarship can include:

• Deliberately providing misleading and/or false information to the Administrator

• Withholding information that may affect the applicant/scholars eligibility

• Failure to provide all the necessary information and/or supporting documents to the Administrator by the date specified

• Attending a placement in a location other than what has been approved by the Administrator. For example, being approved for a placement in Darwin but attending a placement in Sydney

• Attending a placement for less time than what is approved and funded by the Administrator. For example, receiving support for a 6 week placement and only going for 4 weeks

• Failure to participate in the activities offered by the clinical placement facility

• Failure to return any forms, including the Scholar Evaluation Form, to the Administrator.

• Rejection of your application conditional offer and/or

• Withdrawal of your conditional offer and/or

• Cancellation of your scholarship.

Under the NAHSSS Guidelines, a scholarship holder may request a scholarship deferral. These are not automatically approved but may be considered on a case by case basis depending on the nature of the extenuating circumstances. For the purposes of the NAHSSS Allied Health Clinical Placement Scholarships, extenuating circumstances are defined as “circumstances outside of the control of the scholarship recipient, and include, but are not limited to, illness, injury, bereavement or natural disaster”.

Apart from extenuating circumstances, as described above, scholarships cannot be deferred across calendar years which means, for example, if a Scholarship Holder is expected to undertake a clinical placement in November 2014 but the University advised the actual placement will now be in May 2015, the scholarship holder must forfeit the scholarship.

Split period clinical placements may also occur, for example three weeks in the 2^nd part of the 2014 and three weeks in the first part of 2015 – under the current system the scholarship holder will only receive scholarship payments for the period of the placement that occurs in the 2nd part of the 2014.

Applicants who change their course of study to a different accredited/approved allied health professional course must provide a request in writing to the Administrator for consideration.

Any written requests must be supported by confirmation from the applicant's university confirming their new course details.

The Administrator will confirm with the applicant, the outcome of their decision regarding the course change in writing within 30 days of receiving a written request.

Your scholarship can be deferred until the end of the relevant funding round: i.e   31st December 2014 for the 2014 scholarship period. You must provide written evidence from your university to confirm the details of your deferral.

SARRAH expects that applicants will be emailed with the results of the selection process before 6th December 2013. However, if there is a delay in the selection process and the results aren’t available prior to a successful applicant commencing their placement, they will receive their scholarship allowances dating from 1st January 2014 or the first day of their placement, whichever is later, as a lump sum payment.

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Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health (SARRAH) administers the Allied Health Streams of the Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship and Support Scheme (NAHSSS). Funding is provided by the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA). This program supports health professionals and future health professionals to train and practice in geographic and clinical areas of need.

To obtain additional information in response to any questions you may have, please consult the NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement 2014 Guidelines or speak to the NAHSSS: Allied Health Clinical Placement team.