Australian Regional Development Scholarships are currently restricted to Pacific countries and some South East Asia countries. However they may be available in the future for countries listed below. Enquiries about scholarships should be made with the Australian Diplomatic Mission. For example, scholarship information for citizens of the Solomon Islands is only available from the Australian Diplomatic Mission in Honiara. Diplomatic Missions in other countries or AusAID Offices in Australia cannot provide country specific information about the availability of scholarships.
Applicants compete on their merit which includes academic achievement and other selection criteria.
The selection criteria vary between countries and are developed jointly by the Australian and partner governments. Currently Australian Regional Development Scholarships are offered to people from the Pacific to study at Pacific tertiary institutions in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Samoa. Australia also has a joint venture with Singapore offering scholarships to people from South East Asia to study in Singapore and Australia. Consideration is being given to expanding ARDS to other countries in the Asia Pacific region. Australian Regional Development Scholarship students study a wide range of disciplines at selected education institutions outside Australia.