Australia Awards Fellowships

Benefits & funding

• DFAT offers up to AUD 34,500 for each DFAT-funded Fellow, including partner-country activities and the program overhead fee.
• Each application may request support for up to 15 DFAT-funded Fellows, with a maximum DFAT grant of AUD 517,500 per Fellowship.
• Approved budgets may cover eligible participation costs such as economy travel, accommodation, local transport and program delivery. Additional disability assistance may be requested outside the AUD 34,500 per-Fellow cap.
• The Australian applicant must make a cash or in-kind co-contribution. Australian or overseas partner organisations may fully fund additional Fellows, subject to DFAT approval.
• DFAT funds and provides visa support letters for Fellows only, not accompanying family members.

Eligibility

• The applicant must be an Australian legal entity with a current ABN, applying with an overseas counterpart organisation. Individuals and overseas counterpart organisations cannot apply directly.
• The overseas counterpart must operate and reside in an eligible country and cannot be an overseas branch, affiliate under the same parent organisation, or member of the same international consortium as the Australian applicant.
• The proposal must address one of six priorities: climate resilience and green energy; health; gender equality, disability equity and social inclusion; digital economy, cyber resilience and media; maritime and the blue economy; or infrastructure and connectivity.
• Each Fellowship must include 2–52 weeks of activities, at least 14 face-to-face days in Australia, and partner-country activities shorter than the Australian component.
• Nominated Fellows must be at least 18, be citizens of and reside in eligible developing countries, and have worked in their citizenship or residence country in a field relevant to the proposed activities. Citizenship and residence may be in different eligible countries.
• Eligible countries and territories are: Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna; Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam; Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Jordan, State of Palestine; Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe; Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname; and Ukraine.
• Fellows cannot be Australian citizens or applicants for Australian citizenship, Australian permanent residents or applicants for permanent residency, current serving military personnel, or the spouse, fiancé, fiancée or de facto partner of someone who holds or is eligible to hold Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency.
• Fellows must meet visa requirements, participate for the full approved period, travel without family members, and have enough English to participate unless the host provides suitable language support. No degree qualification is specified.

Application process

1. 1
   The Australian organisation and its overseas counterpart jointly develop the proposal, activity plan and co-funded budget against one priority area.
2. 2
   When a round opens, an employee of the Australian organisation submits the mandatory proposal, selection-criteria responses, activity table and budget through SmartyGrants.
3. 3
   DFAT and the Global Support Unit conduct compliance checks and competitive assessment; selected organisations then negotiate the grant and submit detailed budgets, itineraries and Fellow nominations.
4. 4
   DFAT approves nominated Fellows and issues offer documents before the host arranges visas, medical insurance, travel, accommodation and briefings.

Program timeline

1. Round 21 applications opened.

   3 November 2025

2. Round 21 industry information session.

   10 November 2025

3. Round 21 application deadline.

   16 January 2026, 11:59 pm AEDT

4. Round 21 applicants are notified of outcomes.

   From August 2026

5. Round 22 is expected to open; DFAT has not published an exact date.

   Final quarter of 2026

6. Earliest permitted start of Round 21 activities in Australia.

   1 January 2027

7. Latest completion date for Round 21 activities.

   29 March 2028