Round 21

The application form must be completed in accordance with the Australia Awards Fellowships Round 21 Guidelines.

The acceptance of your submission in no way implies any commitment to fund it. The approval of funding under the Australia Awards Fellowships program is at the discretion of the Australia Awards Global Support Unit (GSU) and subject to a competitive selection process.

Enquiries may be directed to the GSU through fellowships@australiaawards.org

Checklist

Applicants must:

• Read the Australia Awards Fellowships Round 21 Guidelines carefully and fully understand the contents before submitting an application.
• Read the relevant DFAT country brief and thematic documents listed in the Guidelines.
• Complete all sections of the application form marked with an asterisk (*).
• Provide a budget (for multi-country provide ratio of budget per country).
• Provide a proposed total number of Fellows (include list of partner organisation names and breakdown of numbers per country).
• Declare you have the full agreement of the proposed Overseas Counterpart Organisation(s) for the activity.
• Review the compliance criteria in Section 5.1 of the Guidelines.

Link to Eligible Countries

• Ensure that the Fellowship aligns with DFAT’s list of eligible countries. 
• Ensure that the Fellowship aligns with the development priorities for the nominated country.
• Applications with Fellows from more than one country should ensure that the Fellowship aligns with the priorities for all countries included in the application. If your proposal is not a priority for one of your nominated countries, it is advisable to leave it out of the application as this could adversely affect the outcome of the application or reduce the scope of the Fellowship.

No technical jargon

• Use plain English in describing the activities and the intended outcomes.

Address the selection criteria – keep on point

• When addressing the selection criteria, you should address the relevant aspects of each criterion, you do not need to address each of the issues identified for consideration.

Selection of priority development areas

• Applications are required to address one main priority development area. 
• Ensure the activities planned relate to the main priority. This will provide a clear line of sight when the application is being assessed and assist in working towards the Fellowships outcomes.

Intersection with International Development Priorities

• Consider if your application can intersect with gender equality, women’s empowerment and leadership, disability equity or consider the impacts of climate change.

Outcomes are traceable

• Be realistic in relation to what the Fellowship can achieve through the activities being completed.
• The activities of the Fellowship should directly support the outcomes to be delivered by the Fellowship. Outcomes that are too broad or longer term make the application hard to assess, as the activities do not necessarily relate to the outcome that the Fellowship is trying to achieve.
• It is important to clearly demonstrate how the links with Overseas Counterpart Organisations will continue into the future. Fellowships should aim to strengthen partnerships and links between Australian and partner organisations in support of Australia's development program. If this is not demonstrated, the overall purpose of a Fellowship has not been achieved.

Fellows

• Fellows should be current and future leaders and senior to mid-career professionals who will be in a position to advance priority development areas on their return home.
• Ensure that diversity (gender, age, and disability) is taken into account. Demonstrate that gender balance has been considered and why the gender balance is appropriate for the priority area of the Fellowship, for example empowering women in governance.

Grant Management Past Performance and Responsiveness

• Past performance/compliance with grant guidelines and deliverables have an impact on the assessment of applications. It is important to ensure that all conditions of the Grant Agreement are adhered to from previous rounds, including those reports are returned by their due date e.g., Activity Completion Report and Financial Acquittal Statement. Organisations who do not comply with the Grant Agreement could be adversely affected.

Duplication of text

• If submitting multiple applications please ensure that each answer is unique, and that text is not copied across several applications with similar themes.

Budget

• A co-contribution (cash or in-kind) must be made by the Australian Host Organisation, and where possible the Overseas Counterpart Organisation.
• Is your budget methodology repeatable?
• Do you already have DFAT funding for this activity? If so, nominate a different activity.

Attachments

• Only attach documents to your application that have been requested.
• Letters of support or recommendation will NOT be seen or assessed by the selection committee.

What else should you include in your application?

• All Fellowship proposals should explore opportunities for intersection with gender equality, women’s empowerment and leadership, disability equity and the impacts of climate change.  
• Fellowships which support engagement with First Nations Australians and the sharing of perspectives, experiences, and practices on health between Australia’s First Nations people and Fellows are also encouraged. 

DFAT Overseas Missions

• It is recommended that you contact the Australian Embassy, High Commission or Consulate for recommendations on Overseas Counterpart Organisations relevant to the application prior to submission.