Santa Singh and Balwant Kaur Scholarship for Palestine Women

This scholarship provides up to $10,000 per year ($5,000 per semester), for up to standard duration of program.

To be eligible for this scholarship you must:

• be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or permanent humanitarian visa holder
• identify as a woman
• be born in Palestine / Gaza Strip / West Bank 
• be enrolling full-time in semester 2 2025 (or part-time with extenuating circumstances) in a Certificate IV, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Associate Degree or Bachelor Degree
• be able to demonstrate circumstance/s which impact your ability to study such as:
  • recieving a government tested low income benefit or having a Centrelink Health Care Card
  • having a long-term medical condition or disability
  • experiencing personal/family/social difficulties
  • be from an interstate or rural/regional area and moving/moved to Melbourne to study at RMIT
  • have previously/are currently living in foster/kinship care or are a ward of the state
  • be from an under-represented background such as:
    • were born overseas, are from a non-English background and recently migrated to Australia
    • current or former refugee
    • completed your secondary education at a School Network Access Program school

The application form is available here. Partial applications will not be assessed.

Supporting documentation

Depending on your circumstances, you will need to provide different types of evidence and material to support your scholarship application. Applications without supporting documents will not be considered.

Please visit Supporting Your Application for more information.

Find out more about applying for scholarships.

Applications are now open.

Applications close 2PM Monday 16 June 2025. No late applications will be accepted.

View the Coursework Scholarships Office’s terms and conditions (PDF, 698KB).

Pretam Kaur, in memory of her parents, established the Santa Singh and Balwant Kaur Scholarship for Palestine Women to contribute to positive change in the community by assisting students who identify as women and who were born in Palestine reach their scholastic and career aims.

A message from Pretam Kaur:

"My father Santa Singh and my mother Balwant Kaur were born in British India in Punjab. They were illiterate, starving, poor, and came to British Malaya before 1940 as coolie labourers. I was born in Malaya in early 1945 when bombs were falling. In 1951, my mother wanted to send me to English school like my two older brothers. The Sikh community opposed my parents and shamed and ostracised them. The Punjabi school in the temple was considered sufficient for girls. English schools were meant only for boys. 

My parents fought the entire community and sent me to English school with love and devotion. My parents supported my education even when they had no money. In 1965 I went to university, my brothers didn’t. 

My parents’ gift of education changed my life. The story of their courage and determination has defined me. The scholarships for Indigenous and Afghan women come from my parents to you, colonised and impoverished as they were, to connect to the oldest culture, and join with your dreaming.

Afghan women have been colonised by the British, the Soviet Union, the USA and their wealth looted like our Indigenous women. My parents and I share the history of these women.  We can't change our history, but by working together we can change our future, and help create a more peaceful, just world."

Find out how to contact the Coursework Scholarships Office.