Am I eligible for Access Melbourne?
Who is Access Melbourne for?
Access Melbourne provides opportunities for students who have experienced ongoing educational, financial or social disadvantage during their schooling. Specific categories matching your circumstances are listed below the general eligibility requirements.
General eligibility
To be eligible for Access Melbourne you must:
- be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or Australian permanent resident or holder of a permanent Humanitarian Visa; and
- have not been awarded results in a degree course at a tertiary institution in Australia (this does not apply to applicants for the mature age consideration category and does not include single, bridging schemes or extension studies undertaken as part of Year 12); and
- have demonstrated the capacity to successfully undertake the course of your choice; and
- apply for a University of Melbourne course through the Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC).
Requirements for individual categories
You may apply under one or more of the following categories for which the description matches your circumstances. You should apply for as many categories as you are eligible for. Access Melbourne categories correspond to VTAC Special Entry and Access Scheme (SEAS) categories, which are shown by the category numbers below. The University of Melbourne does not use SEAS category 8.
- Category 1 - Mature age consideration (non-school leaver entry pathway)
- Category 2 - Non-English speaking background
- Category 3 - Recognition as an Indigenous Australian
- Category 4 - Difficult family circumstances
- Category 5 - Disadvantaged socio-economic background
- Category 6 - Applicants from rural or isolated areas
- Category 7 - Under-represented school
- Category 9 - Personal disability or long-term medical condition
- Category 10 - Refugee status
Access Melbourne Myth:
"I think the circumstances affecting my studies are not as severe as those of some of my friends. I don't think my application will be successful although I meet the eligibility criteria."
You should still apply. University Selection Committees will consider each application for Access Melbourne individually. The Committees will consider both the circumstances that affected your chance of gaining a place at the University and your potential to succeed in your chosen course.
Category 1 - Mature age consideration (non-school leaver entry pathway)
You are eligible for this category if you:
- are 23 years or older by 30 September 2009; and
- have no qualifications from the past seven years which could be used as a basis for entry and
- achieve competitive results in either:
- the Special Tertiary Admissions Test (STAT); or
- the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT); or
- 50 points of study (typically 4 subjects in assessed mode through the University of Melbourne's Community Access Program - single subject study).
Application requirements for this category:
- Personal Information Statement (Pi form) is required:
Describe any work or life experience which is relevant to the course(s) you're applying for.
- Statement of support is not required.
- Evidence may be required: If you have completed the STAT your results will be automatically forwarded to VTAC. If you have completed the SAT you will need to forward certified copies* of your results to VTAC.
Category 2 - Non-English speaking background
You are eligible for this category if you:
- were born outside Australia in an non-English speaking country and
- arrived in Australia less than six years ago (after 1 August 2003).
Application requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is required - describe how your non-English speaking background has impacted on your education.
- Statement of support is not required
- Evidence is required - a certified copy* of your entry visa; and a certified copy* of your passport photograph page (if you have more than one passport provide a certified copy of each). Send both to VTAC with your personalised Access and Equity coversheet.
Category 3 - Recognition as an Indigenous Australian
You are eligible to apply if you are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. You must identify as a person of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage and be accepted as such by the community in which you have been or are associated with.
Application requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is not required
- Statement of support is not required
- Evidence is not required - however, you may be contacted by the University's Centre for Indigenous Education or the Victorian College of the Art's Wilin Centre to verify your status as Indigenous.
For further information contact the:
The Centre for Indigenous Education (CIE)
The Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development
All applicants to the Faculty of the VCA and Music (courses at the Southbank campus) will be required to attend an interview/audition with a panel including an Indigenous member (if requested). The Wilin Centre's Student Programs Officer will be involved in supporting applicants in this process.
Category 4 - Difficult family circumstances
You are eligible to apply if you have been disadvantaged by your family circumstances.
Examples may include (but are not limited to): long-term illness of immediate family member; abusive living environment; divorce/separation of parents.
Requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is required - describe the nature of your circumstances and how they have affected your education
- Statement of support is required - provide a statement of support from an independent, responsible person^ with the knowledge to comment on the history and severity of the circumstances
- Evidence is not required.
Access Melbourne Myth:
"I am afraid the University will view me as a weak candidate if I tell them of the circumstances that have affected my studies. It might hurt my chances of gaining a place when I'm compared to those not applying through Access Melbourne."
If this was true, Access Melbourne wouldn't exist. Twenty per cent of Commonwealth supported places in The University of Melbourne are reserved for Access Melbourne applicants. We are committed to significantly increasing the number of students from educationally, financially or socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The circumstances you describe in your application are used by the University Selection Committees in assessing your potential to succeed in your chosen course. No one else will see your information, which is strictly confidential. The Selection Committees comply with the VTAC Privacy Policy and the University's Privacy Policy.
Category 5 - Disadvantaged socio-economic background
You are eligible for this category if:
- you are in receipt of a means-tested Commonwealth income support payment (such as Austudy, ABSTUDY, Youth Allowance, etc) or
- your parents are in receipt of Family Tax Benefit A or
- you are able to demonstrate how your disadvantaged socio-economic background has affected you.
Requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is required - describe how your socio-economic background has affected your education
- Statement of support may be required
- Evidence may be required:
If you are in receipt of a Centrelink benefit you need to:
- on your application form supply your Centrelink Reference Number (CRN) and give VTAC permission to access information directly from Centrelink; or
- send a certified copies* of notification (which is less than three months old) of your Centrelink benefit to VTAC with your personalised Access and Equity coversheet.
If your parent(s) are in receipt of Family Tax Benefit A you need to: - send a certified copies* of notification of Family Tax Benefit A to VTAC with your personalised Access and Equity coversheet.
If you are not in receipt of a Centrelink benefit and your parent(s) are not in receipt of Family Tax Benefit A, you need to:
- provide a statement of support from an independent, responsible person with knowledge of your socio-economic disadvantage and how it has affected your education. A paper copy of this statement should be submitted to VTAC with your personalised Access and Equity coversheet.
NB: If you have a disadvantaged socio-economic background but are not in receipt of a Centrelink benefit or Family Tax Benefit A you do not need to submit any evidence. Your application will be assessed by looking at your impact statement and statement of support.
Category 6 - Applicants from rural or isolated areas
You are eligible to apply if you will be required to move from a location not defined as a major city by the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas classification in order to undertake your chosen course at the University of Melbourne.
If you are a school leaver you must also have completed the final two years of schooling in a rural or regional secondary school.
If you are a non-school leaver you must also have lived in a rural or regional area for three of the last four years.
A list of postcodes to which this category applies is available to check (Excel document). The University uses the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas classification produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. All postcodes other than those defined as a 'Major City of Australia' are eligible for this category.
Requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is not required
- Statement of support is not required
- Evidence is not required.
NB: To be eligible for this category you will be required to move from your home location in order to undertake your chosen course at the University of Melbourne (because of the distance between the campus of study and your home). Your answer to this question in the application should be "yes".
Category 7 - Under-represented schools
You are eligible to apply if you have undertaken Year 12 in 2009 at a Victorian school defined by the University of Melbourne as under-represented in the tertiary sector and at the University of Melbourne.
See a list of schools to which this category applies in 2010.
Requirements for this category:
- Personal impact statement is not required
- Statement of support is not required
- Evidence is not required
Category 9 - Personal disability or long-term medical condition
You are eligible to apply if you have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition that has affected your studies.
Requirements for this category:
- Impact statement is required - describe the nature of your medical condition/disability, the period in which it was experienced and how it has affected your education
- Statement of support is required - provide a statement of support from a health professional involved in the care/maintenance of your condition
- Evidence is not required.
Category 10 - Refugee status
You are eligible for this category if you can demonstrate that you have been a refugee at any stage during your life.
Requirements for this category:
- Impact statement is required - describe how your refugee status has affected your education
- Statement of support is required - provide a statement of support from an independent, responsible person^ with knowledge of your refugee status and how it has affected your education
- Evidence is required - send certified copies* of your refugee status papers from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and your current visa to VTAC with your personalised Access and Equity coversheet.
* A certified copy is a photocopy of the original document which has the signature and the official stamp of one of the following people - barrister or solicitor, police, pharmacist, doctor, dentist, principal of school, justice of peace, clerk of court - indicating that they have sighted the original document. The copy must be legible and should be on white A4 paper only.
^ Examples of a "responsible person" include a school careers adviser, school principal, religious or community leader, doctor of other health professional. The person should not be related to you.