You are eligible to apply for a voucher if you:

• are a domestic or international student currently enrolled at the University of Sydney
• are currently residing in Australia
• are making satisfactory academic progress (generally, a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) above 50)
• can provide evidence of experiencing genuine and immediate financial difficulty.

You can’t apply if you’ve already reached the limit on the number of vouchers that can be awarded in a semester.

If you’re a domestic student who has already received a bursary in the same semester, we’ll assess your application on a case-by-case basis.

If your application is unsuccessful, you can re-apply if your financial situation worsens.

There are limits on the number of vouchers that can be awarded in a semester.

Continuing students

If you're a continuing student, you can receive:

• Two vouchers per semester for:
  • coursework students studying a full-time load of 24 credit points per semester
  • research students studying the Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL) of 1.0 per year

• One voucher per semester for students studying less than these full-time loads.

If you’re eligible to apply for a second voucher, you’ll need to wait eight weeks after you receive your first voucher before you apply again.

New students

If you're a new coursework or research student, you can receive only one voucher per semester.

You need to provide financial and medical documents to support your application. You don’t need to provide your academic transcript.

Financial documents

To be considered for a voucher, you need to provide the following supporting documents:

• bank account statement with transaction history of your everyday account, for the past 30 days
• bank account statements for all savings accounts and investment accounts you hold. These should be PDF documents with a letterhead. Screenshots of your accounts will not be accepted
• documents that show upcoming financial responsibilities (for example bills, invoices, quotes and calculations)

Required format

All bank account statements need to be in PDF format and contain:

• the official header of your financial institution (e.g. bank name, logo)
• your full name
• the account number.

Screenshots, photos or CSV files of bank statements will not be accepted.

Medical documents

If you would like to receive a voucher for medical items, you need to provide evidence of medical need, such as a prescription or medical certificate. This should include your full name and have been issued within the past 30 days from the date of application.

Step 1: Check your application

Make sure your application is ready. You will need to:

• demonstrate how you are experiencing difficulty meeting living expenses in the immediate future
• indicate whether you prefer to receive a voucher for food or other essential items (e.g. medical items)
• provide your current aggregate bank account balance (including your account for everyday transactions and any savings accounts) which indicates an immediate need for financial support with your living expenses and to support the successful completion of your studies
• ensure all relevant bank accounts have been disclosed, bank statements are provided from the last 30 days and that no transfers have been made to other undisclosed bank accounts prior to your application.

You may need to add a personal statement

If your current aggregate bank account balance does not indicate an immediate need for financial support with your living expenses, you will need to submit a personal statement. This will need to clearly outline your current financial need, what expenses the financial support would cover, and why the need has arisen.

The personal statement needs to be submitted as a single Microsoft Word document.

Alternatively, you may apply at a later date, once your aggregate bank account balance indicates an immediate need for financial support.

Step 2: Apply online

Complete an online application and include your supporting documents.

It is important to upload all relevant supporting documents, or your application will be declined – you will need to reapply which will lead to a delay in processing your application.

You cannot update your application after you submit it.