1.9(5) Australia Awards
Australia Awards
The Australia Awards are a whole-of-government initiative bringing together scholarships and fellowships offered by the department, the Department of Education, and the ACIAR. The Australia Awards administered by the department are a key pillar of the aid program, contributing to the long term human development needs of our developing country partners. The awards help build an alumni network that contributes to the productivity of Australia and the development of people-to-people links between Australia, the Indo–Pacific and beyond. (See also 1.1(14).)
In 2013–14, the department’s Australia Awards expenditure was an estimated $310 million. We offered 4451 awards to recipients from a total of 117 eligible developing countries across seven regions—over 77 per cent in the Indo–Pacific region. Total awards included approximately 2850 long-term awards and 1600 short-term awards. At 30 June 2014 there were 4725 long-term Australia Awards scholarships awardees studying in Australia.
The department successfully achieved gender equity in the Australia Awards—50 per cent of scholarships and 47 per cent of fellowships were awarded to women in 2013–14. We continued to support the inclusion of people with disability, by providing reasonable adjustments to enable access and participation.
The department facilitated tracer studies to track the development contributions made by alumni and their ongoing linkages with Australia. In 2013 we commenced tracer studies in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru and Kiribati.
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Australia Award recipients. Left to right: Napae Ipave Hurim (PNG), Norah Ngeny (Kenya), Judy Nyokabi Maina (Kenya), Ronald Sofe (PNG), Zuwena Mohamed Kikoti (Tanzania) and Vini Talai (PNG), Canberra, 11 June 2014. [DFAT]
| Region | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,354 | 3,784 | 4,217 | 4,643 | 4,451 |
| East Asia (incl. Southeast Asia) | 1,243 | 1,919 | 1,781 | 1,748 | 1,908 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 202 | 458 | 979 | 987 | 708 |
| South and West Asia | 390 | 475 | 534 | 559 | 525 |
| Pacific Island countries | 349 | 422 | 472 | 483 | 454 |
| Papua New Guinea | 155 | 324 | 233 | 662 | 618 |
| Latin America and Caribbean | 11 | 94 | 157 | 164 | 204 |
| Middle East and North Africa | 4 | 92 | 61 | 40 | 34 |
| Rank | Country | Number of awardees | Per cent of total awardees | Post-graduate | Under-graduate | TVET* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All countries, TOTAL | 4,725 | 100 | 4,237 | 441 | 47 | |
| 1 | Indonesia | 1,091 | 23 | 1,091 | ||
| 2 | Vietnam | 668 | 14 | 668 | ||
| 3 | Papua New Guinea | 356 | 8 | 250 | 87 | 19 |
| 4 | Philippines | 190 | 4 | 190 | ||
| 5 | Bangladesh | 154 | 3 | 148 | 6 | |
| 6 | Cambodia | 124 | 3 | 124 | ||
| 7 | Laos | 122 | 3 | 68 | 38 | 16 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 113 | 2 | 113 | ||
| 9 | Fiji | 101 | 2 | 58 | 42 | 1 |
| 10 | Timor-Leste | 98 | 2 | 35 | 63 |
* Technical, vocational and educational training
Australia Awards Fellowships
The Australia Awards Fellowships program is a competitive grants program, established in 2006 to fund short-term study, research and professional development activities hosted in Australia by Australian organisations. It targets senior and mid-career professionals in eligible developing countries, who will be in a position to advance key regional development priorities and increase institutional capacities. Fellowships also help to build partnerships and links between Australian and counterpart organisations in developing countries, particularly in Asia.
In 2013–14, total expenditure for the Australia Awards fellowships was $19.7 million. We supported 36 Australian host organisations to work with approximately 1172 fellows from eligible countries. Of these, 78 per cent were from Asia—60 per cent from East Asia (including Southeast Asia) and 18 per cent from South Asia.
Australia Awards Leadership Program
The Leadership Program takes the top 100 Australia Awards Scholarship recipients every year and builds their leadership capacities, networks and long-term connection to Australia through a series of tailored activities. The department organised the annual Leadership Program Conference in Canberra in June 2014. Opened by the Foreign Minister, the conference featured presentations by Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, the G20 Youth Summit chair, and an editor at The Jakarta Post. Feedback from conference delegates was overwhelmingly positive.
Helping develop future leaders
The department’s Australia Awards program helps train future leaders and delivers results. Dr Lam Minh Yen received her Masters of Science in Infectious Disease at Flinders University in 2001 through the Australia Awards. Prior to completing her scholarship she was head of intensive care in the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City. In October 2006, she was promoted to Vice Director. Dr Yen trains and mentors hundreds of medical students each year in treating serious cases of tetanus, dengue shock syndrome, severe sepsis, hand-foot and mouth disease, infections of the central nervous systems and HIV/AIDS. In the last year, the mortality rate for these diseases at her hospital was the lowest in Vietnam and she was considered one of the top tropical disease specialists in the world.
