Office of Student Life and Learning

Commonwealth Learning Scholarships

Selection and Review Policy

This statement outlines Murdoch's Selection and Review Policy for implementing the Commonwealth Learning Scholarships (CLS).

Consistent with the Commonwealth Scholarship Guidelines, CLS at Murdoch will be awarded to those students who best meet the eligibility criteria for the CLS (see section 2.10 of the Guidelines).

Students must apply for a CLS using the Murdoch application form which is designed to gather sufficient information from students to determine which students best meet the eligibility criteria. Detailed information is also included in the CLS Information Sheet for Students provided with the application form.

Applications will be scored and ranked according to the following criteria:-

• Overall eligibility
• Equity groupings
• Responsibility for others and Living arrangements
• Personal circumstances
• Financial circumstances
• Australian Bureau of Statistics indicators of disadvantage

It is the student's responsibility to provide the necessary documentation in support of their application. Information which can't be verified may not be scored.

Consistent with the Commonwealth Scholarship Guidelines, special consideration will be given to Indigenous students to ensure a fair proportion of the CLS are awarded to Indigenous students.

A student transferring from another institution who holds a CLS from that institution, will not have that CLS continued by Murdoch. The transferring student must apply for a CLS within the Murdoch process.

Students may hold a Commonwealth Education Costs Scholarship (CECS), or a Commonwealth Accommodation Scholarship (CAS), but not both.

Review Process

Consistent with Commonwealth requirements, a procedure exists for review of decisions of the CLS Selection Panel.

A student who is aggrieved with a decision of the CLS Selection Panel should in the first instance seek explanatory feedback from the Scholarships Office.

Where a student is dissatisfied with that explanation, they may request a review of the decision by making a submission in writing to the Student Appeals Committee.

The request for a review must be made within 14 days of the date of notification of the CLS Selection Panel's decision.

The Appeals Committee can review the following aspects of the Selection Panel's decision:-

• Whether or not information in the student's application, as submitted, was correctly assessed, or
• Whether or not the scoring of the student's application was correctly aggregated.

The Appeals Committee may examine the student's application, the Selection Panel's scoring guide, and any other information which they may need to assure themselves on the above points.

The student requesting a review cannot add or change information on their application form for the purpose of the review.

Applications should be lodged on the Appeal Against Commonwealth Learning Scholarship Decision form to:

Ms Nicole Adams
Secretary to the Student Appeals Committee
Legal & Governance
Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch WA 6150

For additional information and initial feedback please contact:

Anna Cornwill
Scholarships Office
Phone: 08 9360 7688
Email: cls@murdoch.edu.au