In 2001 the Queensland Government established the Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation to provide university scholarships for Australian South Sea Islander undergraduate students.
The Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation was established as a sub-fund of the Queensland Community Foundation.
The Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation is independently managed by the Public Trustee of Queensland under the umbrella of the Queensland Community Foundation.
The Public Trustee of Queensland is responsible for the administration, investment and granting of funds.
Four universities are currently involved in the Scholarship Program: James Cook University, Sunshine Coast University, Central Queensland University and Queensland University of Technology.
Income generated by the invested donations to the Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation are distributed as funds for scholarships on an annual basis. This amount varies from year to year depending on the level of distributable income. Scholarship funds are distributed equally among each participating university.
Upon receipt of scholarship funds, each participating university determines the scholarship amount to offer. Scholarship amounts offered by university may vary from year-to-year.
Each university promotes and awards scholarships at their own discretion.
The former Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation Board of Advice (2001 to 2014), with secretariat support from Multicultural Affairs, provided oversight for the Scholarship Program.
In 2014, a review of the Scholarship Program was undertaken in consultation with the Board of Advice and involved Multicultural Affairs, the participating universities, Queensland Community Foundation and the Public Trustee of Queensland.
This review led to a redesign of the Scholarship Program, which involved the discontinuation of the Board of Advice to give participating universities more autonomy in promoting and awarding scholarships directly to suitable Australian South Sea Islander students.
For more information regarding the scholarship program and how to lodge an application, please visit the relevant university website:
Individuals and the corporate sector are invited to make financial contributions to support the fund.
The Queensland Community Foundation is tax exempt and, as such donations made during your lifetime are tax deductible.
All donations made to the Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation remain in the sub-fund forever. The funds are perpetual and will continue to give forever.
The Queensland Government donated $100,000 to the Australian South Sea Islander Community Foundation sub-fund in 2001.
Last reviewed:12 April 2024
Last modified:12 February 2025
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence
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