This scholarship is different from every other program in our directory. It isn't for descendants - no children, no grandchildren. It's for veterans and their partners directly: people who served, or whose partner served, and who are now looking to move into tertiary education through Australian Catholic University (ACU).
Families researching descendant scholarships often discover, along the way, that a parent or a partner in their own family may be eligible for education support in their own right. If that's you, this guide covers what the program is and how to apply for it.
Every application here has three components:
- Essential requirements - your service status, and what the ACU pathway looks like.
- Circumstances - there's no means test on this program; what matters instead is the transition you or your partner are making.
- Your service story - proof of service, and the material behind your personal statement.
1. Essential requirements
You need to meet the service-status route below, plus be moving into a first tertiary qualification at ACU.
| Requirement | The rule |
|---|---|
| Service status | Currently serving or previously served in the Australian Defence Force, or the partner of someone who currently serves or has served. No minimum service period is specified, and there's no requirement for operational service. |
| Not for descendants | Children and grandchildren of veterans aren't eligible under this program. See our guides to the Gallipoli Scholarship Fund, AVCAT Sponsored Scholarships, or the complete application guide instead. |
| Transitional program | Before the degree starts, recipients complete a two-week transitional program - study techniques, academic writing, research methods, campus orientation, and building confidence in a tertiary setting. |
| Study | First year of a chosen degree at Australian Catholic University (ACU). |
ACU has campuses in Sydney (North Sydney and Strathfield), Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Ballarat, and Adelaide, with degrees across arts, business, education, health sciences, law, and theology.
If you're a veteran with children who are themselves descendants of a veteran, your family may be eligible across multiple programs at once - this one for you, the GSF or AVCAT for them. The programs are independent and the windows don't need to line up.
2. Circumstances
Most programs in this directory run a means test - necessitous circumstances, income, or similar. This one doesn't. There's no means test on the RSL NSW Veteran and Partner Scholarship; eligibility rests on service status alone.
What the program is actually built around is the transition itself. Veterans leaving the ADF often face a real adjustment: military life is structured, hierarchical, and mission-focused, while university is self-directed, decentralised, and open-ended. The discipline, teamwork, and problem-solving under pressure that served you in Defence are valuable at university - the challenge is applying them in a very different environment.
Partners face their own version of it. Years spent managing relocations, raising children through deployments, and building a career around the unpredictable demands of military life don't disappear at enrolment - and returning to study, or starting it for the first time, can feel like a significant step.
That's what the two-week transitional program exists to bridge: structured preparation in study techniques, academic writing, research methods, and campus orientation before the degree itself begins.
Will it cut your Centrelink payment?
Merit and equity scholarships are exempt income up to $10,306 a year (2026, indexed annually), so a scholarship at or under that threshold doesn't touch your payment. RSL NSW doesn't publish a dollar value for this program, so confirm the amount with them and check it against the threshold. Source: Services Australia.
3. Digger details and knowledge
This component works differently here than in our descendant scholarship guides. The service story you're telling belongs to you or to your partner - never a grandparent or great-grandparent - so this isn't about proving a family connection back through the generations. It's about giving RSL NSW and ACU a clear, well-evidenced picture of the service behind your application.
Two things the process asks for touch on this directly: proof of your own ADF service (for veterans) or proof of your partner's service (for partners), and a personal statement covering your goals for tertiary study and how the scholarship would support your transition.
A decoded service record can strengthen both. Decode My Digger takes the records held by the National Archives - enlistment papers, postings, discharge details - and turns them into a clear, readable story, whether that record is your own or your partner's. Here's Banjo Paterson's decode as an example of what that looks like. It gives you exact dates and postings for the proof-of-service requirement, and real material - not just a rank and a year - for the personal statement.
For general guidance on structuring a personal statement, the prompts in our Gallipoli Scholarship Fund guide are a reasonable starting point - though most are written for descendants, so adapt the service-related ones to speak about your own time in uniform, or your partner's, rather than an ancestor's.
How to apply
Application timing
There's no fixed national window like AVCAT (August to October) or the GSF (January to February). Contact RSL NSW directly for current intake dates.
Where to apply
Contact RSL NSW through their education and training assistance page at rslnsw.org.au.
What you'll need
Confirm specifics with RSL NSW directly, but expect to provide:
- Proof of service - your own ADF service records, discharge papers, or Defence ID (veterans), or proof of your partner's service (partners)
- Academic records - your previous education history
- Personal statement - your goals for tertiary study and how the scholarship would support your transition
- ACU application - you'll need to apply to Australian Catholic University for your chosen degree as part of the process
How this scholarship fits the broader landscape
The RSL NSW Veteran and Partner Scholarship fills a specific gap. Most programs in the veteran education space focus on descendants - children and grandchildren. This one focuses on the veteran and their partner.
Here's where it sits alongside the other programs:
| Program | Who it's for | Descendant eligible? | Veteran/partner eligible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSL NSW Veteran and Partner | Veterans and their partners | No | Yes |
| Gallipoli Scholarship Fund | Descendants of veterans | Yes | No |
| AVCAT Sponsored Scholarships | Descendants of veterans | Yes | No |
| AVCAT Long Tan Bursaries | Descendants of Vietnam veterans | Yes | No |
| Legacy Education Support | Families of veterans who died/were injured | Yes (and veteran families directly) | Partial |
| DVA VCES/MRCAETS | Children of veterans who died/were severely injured | Yes | No |
If you're a veteran with children, your family may be eligible across multiple programs simultaneously. You could apply for this scholarship for yourself while your children apply to AVCAT and the GSF. The programs are independent.
Other veteran education pathways
If you're a veteran or partner considering education, the RSL NSW program isn't the only option. Other pathways worth exploring include:
DVA rehabilitation and transition programs. DVA provides support for transitioning ADF members, including education and training assistance. Contact DVA at 1800 555 254 or visit dva.gov.au.
University veteran support programs. Several Australian universities have dedicated support services for veterans and Defence families. Check with the university you're interested in.
Defence transition support. The ADF Transition Support Service provides information and referral services for members leaving the Defence Force, including education pathways.
Certa Cito Foundation. The Certa Cito Foundation (linked to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals) funds a scholarship through AVCAT that's available to veterans as well as descendants.
Next steps
- Contact RSL NSW at rslnsw.org.au/find-help/education-and-training-assistance for current application details
- Research degree options at Australian Catholic University
- If you also have children who are descendants of a veteran, explore the full scholarships directory for their options
- For the complete guide to all veteran family education funding, see our application guide
Data sourced from RSL NSW. Last verified 8 June 2026. Contact RSL NSW directly at rslnsw.org.au for current program details, intake dates, and application requirements.