Scholarships for Indian Students in Australia 2026/2027

Every year, thousands of Indian students begin their Australia research with the same search — “Australia Awards Scholarship” — and most round-up articles happily list it as an option for them. It is not. India does not appear on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) official list of participating countries for long-term Australia Awards Scholarships, a fact you can verify in minutes on the DFAT website and one this guide states plainly at the start, because building an application plan around an award you cannot receive is the most expensive mistake an Indian applicant can make in Australia. The good news is that the real Australian funding system for Indian students is strong — it just works differently. It is led by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP), which funds master’s by research and PhD students of any nationality, including Indians, with a full tuition fee offset and a tax-free stipend whose base rate is AUD 34,315 per year in 2026, rising to AUD 35,550 in 2027. Alongside RTP sit the India-specific Maitri Scholars Program for postgraduate research in priority STEM fields, administered through the Centre for Australia-India Relations, and a wide market of university scholarships offering 15–50% tuition reductions for coursework students.

This guide is written for citizens of India applying for 2026/2027 entry. It explains each genuine route — RTP, university research scholarships, Maitri, and coursework merit awards — with verified amounts, who is eligible, how selection actually works at Australian universities, what the Genuine Student requirement and financial capacity evidence mean for Indian applicants, and an honest account of the two famous programs you should not plan around: Australia Awards Scholarships (India not a participating country for long-term awards) and Destination Australia (closed to new applicants since funding ceased on 1 July 2024).

Scholarships for Indian Students in Australia at a Glance

Start by shortlisting institutions in our university directory — for example the University of Melbourne — and checking their research strengths in the global rankings, because in Australia the university, not a central government portal, is where research funding is won.

Eligibility: What Indian Applicants Must Show

For RTP and university research scholarships, eligibility is academic and research-based, not nationality-based. You need a bachelor’s degree with first-class honours equivalence, or a research master’s degree, or a combination of qualifications and research experience that the university assesses as equivalent. In practice, Australian universities assess Indian credentials individually: a strong master’s degree with a substantial research thesis, or a four-year bachelor’s with high marks plus publications, can establish honours equivalence, but the assessment is made by the university’s graduate research office, not by agents or conversion websites. You also need a supervisor: most universities expect you to identify and contact a potential supervisor whose research aligns with your proposal before or during application, and an application without supervisor support rarely survives to the scholarship ranking stage.

English proficiency is required for admission and therefore for funding — typically IELTS 6.5–7.0 overall (or TOEFL/PTE equivalents) for research degrees, with higher bands in competitive faculties. For the student visa (subclass 500), Indian applicants must satisfy the Genuine Student (GS) requirement and show financial capacity: funds for the first 12 months of tuition and living costs, travel and any accompanying family members, evidenced through acceptable sources such as savings and education loans from approved financial institutions. Australia has recently tightened financial-capacity and genuine-student assessment for high-volume markets, and Indian applicants should expect careful scrutiny of the source and history of funds. A scholarship letter covering tuition and stipend is powerful evidence, but it must be a real, unconditional university offer — conditional or “expected” funding does not carry the same weight.

The Australia Awards Question, Answered Honestly

Australia Awards Scholarships are the Australian Government’s prestigious development awards, covering full tuition, living expenses, airfares and health cover — for citizens of a defined list of partner countries. DFAT’s official participating-countries page lists, for Asia, countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. India is not on that list for long-term Scholarships. Some older third-party lists still include India, which is why the confusion persists, but the controlling document is DFAT’s current page, and it does not list India. Indian citizens may occasionally encounter Australia Awards Fellowships — short-term, organisation-nominated professional fellowships — but these are not degree scholarships and cannot fund your master’s or PhD. Plan instead around RTP, university research scholarships, Maitri (if you are in a priority STEM research field) and coursework merit awards. If DFAT’s country list changes in a future round, the official page linked in our Sources section is where that change will appear first.

RTP and University Research Scholarships in Detail

The Research Training Program is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Education and administered entirely by universities: there is no central RTP application. Each university runs competitive scholarship rounds aligned with its research intakes, ranks eligible applicants on academic merit and research potential, and awards a package that typically combines an RTP fee offset (your tuition is paid for the standard duration — up to two years for a master’s by research and up to four years of support in the PhD structure, most commonly 3.5 years) with an RTP or university stipend. The government base stipend rate is AUD 34,315 per year in 2026 and AUD 35,550 in 2027, paid fortnightly and tax-free for full-time study. Universities may pay more: the University of Sydney’s RTP rate for 2026 is AUD 42,754 per year, ANU advertises around AUD 39,069, and other universities sit between the base and these topped-up rates. Always quote the specific university’s published rate when comparing offers — “RTP” describes the funding source, not a single national amount.

Practical details matter. Many universities add Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for the scholarship holder, relocation and thesis allowances (Sydney, for example, advertises relocation support and a thesis allowance of AUD 420 for master’s and AUD 840 for doctoral candidates), and paid recreation and sick leave entitlements. You generally cannot hold another award worth more than 75% of your RTP stipend rate on top of it. Deadlines are university-specific: Sydney’s main international deadlines fall in September for research periods 1–2 and December for periods 3–4 of the following year, ANU runs rounds closing around April, August and October, and other universities run two or three rounds a year. The working rule for Indian applicants targeting a Semester 1 (February–March) start is to have supervisor agreement and a complete application lodged by the preceding August–October scholarship round.

The Maitri Scholars Program: India’s Own Window

The Maitri (“friendship”) initiative is the Australia–India bilateral framework administered through the Centre for Australia-India Relations, and its Scholars Program is the one Australian government initiative built specifically for Indian students. It supports high-achieving Indian citizens undertaking postgraduate research — master’s by research and PhD — in priority STEM and strategic fields, which in recent rounds have included areas such as advanced manufacturing, critical minerals and clean energy, critical technologies including batteries and semiconductors, life sciences and medical technology, defence, aerospace and space, and agribusiness and food technology. Funding is substantial and structured per scholar through the participating university, contributing to tuition, living costs and establishment expenses such as visa, airfare and initial accommodation, alongside cohort networking and professional development.

Two features distinguish Maitri from RTP. First, it is university-led: Australian universities drive nominations and proposals under the program’s grant rounds, so your route in is through a target university’s research and international offices — express your interest early, with a supervisor already engaged. Second, it is deliberately selective and small-scale compared with RTP; treat it as a prestigious top-up pathway for exceptional STEM research candidates rather than a general application channel. Round timing, eligible fields and grant values are set in each round’s guidelines published through the Centre for Australia-India Relations, so verify the current round there before relying on any figure quoted elsewhere.

Coursework Scholarships: What Bachelor’s and Master’s Students Can Realistically Win

For taught degrees, full funding is rare in Australia and any source promising routine “fully funded bachelor’s scholarships” should be distrusted. The realistic market is partial tuition scholarships awarded on merit: universities commonly offer international students reductions in the 15–50% range, with the higher percentages tied to very strong prior results and specific programs. The University of Melbourne runs international undergraduate and graduate coursework scholarships with automatic consideration; Monash’s International Merit Scholarship has been advertised at around AUD 15,000 per year; the University of Adelaide has offered Global Academic Excellence awards at up to 50% of tuition for its highest-achieving coursework entrants. Values, percentages and eligibility change by intake and by faculty, and most awards require you to maintain a minimum weighted average mark to keep them in later semesters. Compare offers on the total remaining tuition across the whole degree — a 25% award at one university can beat a 40% award at another with a higher base fee — using the comparison habits in our study abroad hub and the awards tracked in our scholarships directory.

What the Funding Covers — and What You Still Pay

An RTP package typically covers tuition in full (fee offset), living costs via the stipend, OSHC at many universities, and modest relocation and thesis allowances. It does not pay for your visa application charge, your family’s OSHC unless specified, flights in most cases, or living costs above the stipend in expensive cities — Sydney and Melbourne rents can consume well over half of a base-rate stipend, which is why the university’s actual stipend rate and city choice are financial decisions, not just academic ones. Coursework scholarship holders must show visa financial capacity for the remaining tuition and living costs after the scholarship is deducted. Part-time work is permitted within student visa conditions (currently 48 hours per fortnight during teaching periods for most students), but it cannot be counted in advance toward your visa financial-capacity evidence.

How to Apply: Step by Step for Indian Applicants

1. Define your research topic and shortlist supervisors (research degrees) 12–15 months ahead. Read recent papers from Australian groups in your field and identify two or three supervisors per university.
2. Contact supervisors with a focused proposal. A two-page concept aligned to the supervisor’s current projects, your CV, transcripts and any publications. Supervisor support is the gateway to scholarship ranking.
3. Take your English test early so scores are available before scholarship rounds close.
4. Lodge the research-degree application at each university, indicating RTP/university scholarship consideration, before that university’s international scholarship round deadline (commonly August–October for a first-semester start).
5. For Maitri, raise the program explicitly with the university’s research office once a supervisor is engaged, and check the Centre for Australia-India Relations for the current round guidelines.
6. For coursework degrees, apply for admission early; most merit scholarships are assessed automatically, but note any that require a separate form or acceptance by a specific date.
7. Accept your offer and pay the required deposit/OSHC to receive your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE).
8. Lodge the subclass 500 visa application with your CoE, scholarship letter, Genuine Student statement and financial-capacity evidence, well before course start.

Required Documents

For research applications: passport, bachelor’s and (where held) master’s transcripts and degree certificates, evidence of honours equivalence (research thesis, publications, patents or relevant research employment), research proposal, CV, supervisor correspondence, English test results and two academic references. Indian documents should be prepared as certified copies where the university requires them, and degree certificates from Indian universities should match the names on your passport exactly — name mismatches across Indian documents are a common and avoidable cause of delay. For coursework applications: Class 12 or bachelor’s records as applicable, English scores, passport and any gap explanations. For the visa: CoE, passport, Genuine Student responses, financial evidence (savings history and/or education loan sanction from an acceptable institution), scholarship letter, OSHC confirmation and health/police documents if requested.

Deadlines and Timeline

Keep the parallel university rounds organised with our student tools, including deadline tracking and a budget planner that models stipend-versus-rent in your target city.

How to Improve Your Chances

RTP ranking is a merit contest scored on your academic record and research potential, so the highest-value moves are: secure a supervisor who actively wants the project (their support shapes ranking), produce research evidence before you apply — a well-executed master’s thesis, a conference paper, a publication or documented research employment — and write a proposal that reads as feasible within 3.5 years with named methods and milestones. Apply in the main scholarship round, not the leftover round, and apply to more than one university: RTP quotas are per-university, so a candidate just below the line at one institution may be funded at another. For Maitri, alignment with the round’s priority STEM themes and an industry or bilateral angle strengthens a university’s willingness to nominate. For coursework awards, your lever is your final results and applying early enough to be assessed in the first, best-funded rounds.

Common Mistakes Indian Applicants Make

Planning around Australia Awards Scholarships is the first — India is not a participating country for long-term awards, whatever outdated lists claim. The second is citing Destination Australia, which closed to new applicants when funding ceased on 1 July 2024. Third, students apply for research degrees without contacting a supervisor and are never ranked for RTP. Fourth, applicants quote “the RTP stipend” as a single figure; the base rate is AUD 34,315 (2026) rising to AUD 35,550 (2027), but your actual income is your university’s rate, which may be several thousand dollars higher. Fifth, visa applications fail on financial evidence that cannot be verified or funds that appeared days before lodgement; build a clean, documented funding history, whether from family savings or an education loan. Finally, be wary of any agent guaranteeing an RTP or Maitri outcome — both are competitive, university-assessed awards that no intermediary can promise.

Comparing Your Options Beyond Australia

Indian research students often run Australia in parallel with other systems. Our companion guides cover scholarships for Indian students in Canada, where doctoral funding now centres on CGRS-D after enrolment, and scholarships for Indian students in Germany, where DAAD EPOS and tuition-free public universities dominate. Australia’s distinctive strength is that its main research award, RTP, is open to Indian citizens from the point of application, before you enrol — provided you win supervisor support and a place in a university’s scholarship round.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Indian students apply for Australia Awards Scholarships?

Not for long-term degree Scholarships. India does not appear on DFAT’s official participating-countries list for Australia Awards Scholarships, which covers partner countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia. Indian students should target RTP, university research scholarships, the Maitri Scholars Program (STEM research) and coursework merit awards instead. Always re-check the DFAT list for future rounds.

How much is the RTP stipend in 2026 and 2027?

The Australian Government base rate is AUD 34,315 per year in 2026 and AUD 35,550 per year in 2027, paid fortnightly and generally tax-free for full-time students. Many universities pay above base rate — for example, the University of Sydney’s 2026 rate is AUD 42,754 — so check your university’s published rate.

Is RTP open to Indian students?

Yes. RTP has no nationality restriction. If you are admitted to a master’s by research or PhD at a participating Australian university and ranked highly enough in that university’s scholarship round, you can receive the fee offset and stipend as an Indian citizen.

What is the Maitri Scholars Program?

It is the Australia–India bilateral scholarship initiative administered through the Centre for Australia-India Relations, supporting Indian citizens in postgraduate research (master’s by research and PhD) in priority STEM fields. It operates through participating Australian universities, which lead nominations under each round’s guidelines, so engage a supervisor and the university’s research office early.

Is Destination Australia still available?

No. Destination Australia funding ceased on 1 July 2024 and the program is closed to new applicants. Do not include it in a funding plan for 2026/2027.

Can I get a fully funded bachelor’s degree in Australia as an Indian student?

Realistically, no general fully funded undergraduate route exists for Indian students. Undergraduate funding is partial — typically merit-based tuition reductions of roughly 15–50% depending on the university and your results. Full funding is concentrated at research postgraduate level through RTP and university scholarships.

Do I apply for RTP through a central government website?

No. RTP is administered by universities. You apply for the research degree at each university and indicate scholarship consideration in that application; the university ranks you in its own scholarship rounds.

Does an RTP scholarship guarantee my student visa?

No. You must still satisfy the subclass 500 requirements, including the Genuine Student criterion and financial-capacity rules. A formal scholarship offer letter is strong supporting evidence, but the visa decision rests with the Department of Home Affairs.

After Graduation: Post-Study Work and Why It Affects Scholarship Choices

Australia’s Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) allows eligible graduates to stay and work after their degree — currently up to two years for many master’s graduates and longer for doctoral graduates under the settings in force, though maximum ages and durations have been revised in recent years and must be checked on the Department of Home Affairs website at the time you apply. This post-study period matters financially: it is when many Indian graduates repay education loans and convert research training into skilled employment or further academic posts. It also feeds back into scholarship strategy. A research degree funded through RTP builds exactly the publication record, supervisor references and Australian research networks that strengthen both post-study employment and any later skilled-migration expression of interest, whereas a coursework degree chosen purely for the largest tuition discount may leave you with weaker professional positioning. None of this guarantees migration outcomes — points, occupation lists and state nomination settings change frequently — but choosing the university, city and degree structure with the post-study years in mind is sound planning, and regional study settings have at times carried additional visa or migration incentives that are worth checking in current official guidance.

Sources & Verification

This guide was compiled and checked in October 2026 against official sources: the Australian Government Department of Education’s Research Training Program pages (program structure and base stipend rates of AUD 34,315 for 2026 and AUD 35,550 for 2027), DFAT’s Australia Awards participating countries page (the official country list, which does not include India for long-term Scholarships), the Centre for Australia-India Relations (Maitri Scholars Program scope and priority fields), the Study Australia scholarships pages (university scholarship landscape and the closure of Destination Australia to new applicants from 1 July 2024), and individual university scholarship pages including the University of Sydney’s published 2026 RTP rate of AUD 42,754. Amounts and deadlines change between rounds, so always confirm current figures on the official website before applying.

Disclaimer: StudyGraduate is an independent information portal, not an agency, university or government body. We do not charge for scholarship applications and cannot promise selection, admission or visa approval. Always verify deadlines, amounts and eligibility on the official scholarship and government websites linked above.