The Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships are for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descendants of Australian veterans. Funded by RSL Australia and administered through AVCAT (the Australian Veterans' Children Assistance Trust), two scholarships are awarded each year, each worth $5,000. They're named for the first Aboriginal Australian commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army.
Every application has three components:
- Essential requirements - Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity, descent from a veteran, and study.
- Circumstances - AVCAT's financial hardship test.
- Your Digger's story - the part most applicants underinvest in, and where applications are won. For this scholarship, it's also a chance to honour the man the award is named for.
This is a competitive process. That's not a reason to hold back, it's the reason to build all three components properly. This guide walks through each one, then the application itself.
1. Essential requirements
You must meet all four.
| Requirement | The rule |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander | You must identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. |
| Descendant of a veteran | Child or grandchild of an Australian veteran. The veteran must have had operational service, or at least three years of continuous full-time service in the Australian Defence Force - standard AVCAT eligibility. |
| Community contribution intent | You plan to use your skills and qualifications to benefit your community. No specific course of study is prescribed - health, education, law, social work, engineering, business, or any other field qualifies, as long as you can articulate the connection back to community. |
| Study | Enrolled in or commencing tertiary study - university, TAFE, or VET. |
The scholarships are accessed through the standard AVCAT application - you don't apply separately. Submit the AVCAT form and you're automatically considered for the Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships if you meet the criteria, alongside every other scholarship in the AVCAT network.
Two are awarded each year, which makes this a competitive field. A strong application with clear proof of veteran service, clear Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity, and a specific, articulate community contribution plan is what stands out.
2. Circumstances
AVCAT's test here is financial hardship, assessed on income and assets. It's a case-by-case judgement, not a published dollar threshold - AVCAT looks at the full picture of your circumstances.
If you're receiving Youth Allowance, ABSTUDY, Austudy, VCES, or MRCAETS, that's strong evidence of financial need. It isn't the only evidence that counts.
Don't rule yourself out
This is the point where good applicants walk away, and it's worth slowing down for.
Because there's no published income cut-off, some eligible students assume they need to be in serious financial trouble before it's worth applying. That's not how AVCAT assesses it. The trust considers your whole situation - income, assets, and what it will actually take for you to study - not a single number measured against a fixed line.
The worst outcome of applying? A no. The worst outcome of not applying? A guaranteed no.
Be honest and specific about your financial circumstances in the application. Understating them doesn't help your case.
Will it cut your Centrelink Youth Allowance?
No. Merit and equity scholarships are exempt income up to $10,306 a year (2026, indexed annually) - so a $5,000 Captain Reg Saunders Scholarship doesn't touch your payment. Source: Services Australia.
3. Digger details and knowledge
A key purpose of Digger scholarships is preserving the memory of the Anzacs in younger generations. Assessors want an applicant who fully understands their ancestor's service and will be a good ambassador for the awarding organisation - and for the Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships, that ambassador role sits alongside your community contribution intent.
It's also where the competition is won. Most applications answer the service question with a single line - "my grandmother served," "my grandfather was in Vietnam." The applicant who can tell the panel where their Digger served, what they lived through, and why it still matters hands the assessors a story they can't forget.
Who Captain Reg Saunders was
The scholarship carries the name of a man whose own service is worth knowing, because it shapes what the award stands for.
Reginald Walter Saunders MBE was born in 1920 at Purnim, near Framlingham in western Victoria. He was a Gunaikurnai man who grew up on the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission in Gippsland.
He enlisted in the AIF in April 1940 and served with the 2/7th Battalion in North Africa, Greece, and Crete - one of only a small number of Australians to survive the German invasion of Crete and make it back to Allied lines. After returning to Australia, he was selected for officer training and commissioned as a second lieutenant in November 1944 - the first Aboriginal Australian to hold a commission in the Australian Army.
After WWII, Saunders re-enlisted and served in Korea with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR), part of the Battle of Kapyong in April 1951, where Australian and Canadian forces held their positions against overwhelming Chinese attack - an engagement that earned the battalion a United States Presidential Unit Citation.
After leaving the Army, Saunders worked in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and was a prominent advocate for Aboriginal rights and recognition. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971, and passed away in 1990. The scholarship bearing his name honours both his military service and his lifelong commitment to improving conditions for Aboriginal Australians.
Decoding your own Digger's record
The obstacle for most applicants is the record itself. Original service records - especially WWI and WWII - are dense pages of faded handwriting, abbreviations, and army shorthand. That's where Decode My Digger comes in: it takes the war records held by the National Archives and decodes them into a story told in today's language, anchored to the key events. Here's Banjo Paterson's decode as an example of what that looks like.
Service records from the National Archives may not always record a veteran's Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander identity - it wasn't consistently recorded, and in some cases was actively concealed to circumvent enlistment restrictions. The service record itself, combined with family knowledge, is often the most reliable evidence you have.
At $59 against a $5,000 scholarship, it's a high-leverage part of your application - clear evidence of service, and the material for a personal statement with real depth. For a full set of statement prompts and structure, see the GSF application guide's statement section.
How to apply
Dates and method
Applications open 18 August (Vietnam Veterans' Day) and close 31 October (midnight AEDT) each year.
Apply through the standard AVCAT application at avcat.org.au/scholarships. One form covers the Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships, the Long Tan Bursaries (if you're a Vietnam veteran descendant), and all AVCAT Sponsored Scholarships.
What you'll need
- Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander - clearly stated in the relevant section of the form
- Proof of veteran service - service records, discharge papers, or medal entitlement records showing your parent or grandparent's ADF service
- A community contribution statement - explain how you plan to use your education to benefit your community. Be specific: "I want to help my community" is less compelling than "I'm studying social work so I can return to [community] and support families navigating the child protection system"
- Academic records and financial information, as per the standard AVCAT requirements
Tips for a strong application
Be specific about your community contribution intent. A named field, a named community, a named problem - not a general statement of good intentions.
Lead with your Digger's story. Component 3 above is the differentiator - use it in your personal statement, not just your evidence documents.
Be honest and specific about your financial circumstances. There's no fixed threshold to hit - give the full picture.
Apply early in the window. Don't wait for 31 October.
Other Indigenous-specific scholarships for veteran descendants
The Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships aren't the only Indigenous-specific options. If you're an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descendant of a veteran, you may also be eligible for:
Calleo Indigenous Bursary (via Gallipoli Scholarship Fund)
The Calleo Indigenous Bursary is one of the 17 named bursaries within the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. It's specifically for Indigenous descendants of Australian or New Zealand veterans. Worth $8,000 per year for up to three years - a total of up to $24,000.
In 2026, six scholars are being supported through the Calleo Indigenous Bursary - one of the highest-value Indigenous-specific scholarships in the veteran descendant landscape.
The Calleo bursary is applied for through the GSF application (1 January to 28 February) - a completely separate form from AVCAT. You can apply to both.
Aspen Medical Foundation Bursary (via Gallipoli Scholarship Fund)
The Aspen Medical Foundation Bursary is another GSF named bursary. It targets students in health-related fields, with priority for First Nations and Pacific Islander applicants. Worth $8,000. Applied for through the GSF application.
ABSTUDY
If you're receiving ABSTUDY (the education payment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through Centrelink), this also satisfies the means test for the AVCAT Long Tan Bursaries if you're a Vietnam veteran descendant. The programs can stack.
Building a multi-scholarship strategy
An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descendant of a veteran has access to more scholarship pathways than most applicants. Here's how they can stack.
January to February: Apply to the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund. Your application is automatically considered for the Calleo Indigenous Bursary ($8,000/year, up to 3 years) and the Aspen Medical Foundation Bursary ($8,000, health-related study) alongside the main GSF scholarship.
August to October: Apply to AVCAT. Your application is automatically considered for the Captain Reg Saunders Scholarships ($5,000), all RSL and ESO sponsors, all corporate sponsors, and the Long Tan Bursaries if applicable.
Year-round: Contact your local Legacy club if a veteran parent or partner has died or been wounded in service. Legacy Australia offers direct education support including scholarships, school costs, and mentorship.
Two applications. Two afternoons of paperwork. Access to dozens of scholarships worth thousands of dollars.
Next steps
- Confirm you meet all four essential requirements above
- Get your service records decoded for clear proof of veteran service
- Apply at avcat.org.au/scholarships when applications open on 18 August
- Also apply to the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund in January for the Calleo Indigenous Bursary
- Contact your local Legacy club if applicable
For the full picture of every scholarship available to veteran descendants, see our complete application guide and searchable scholarships database.
Data sourced from RSL Australia and AVCAT. Last verified 8 June 2026. Verify all eligibility criteria directly with AVCAT at avcat.org.au and RSL Australia at rslaustralia.org/scholarships before applying.