Australia Awards are an Australian Government initiative designed to promote knowledge, education links and enduring ties between Australia, our neighbours and the global community.

The Australia Awards comprise two streams: an achievement stream that targets the best and brightest students, researchers and professionals to come to Australia and for Australians to do the same offshore and a development stream that builds capacity in developing countries.

The Australia Awards initiative will, over time, build a new generation of global leaders with strong links to Australia.

The Australia Awards brings together scholarships offered through AusAID and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

Development Awards

Development awards have been an important component of the Australian Government’s overseas aid program since the 1950s, supporting its aim to help developing countries  reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development.

The overarching goals of Australia's development awards are:

• to develop capacity and leadership skills so that individuals can contribute to development in their home countries; and
• to build people-to-people linkages at the individual, institutional and country levels.

Development awards provide opportunities for long and short term study and professional development. Long term awards include Australian Development Scholarships (ADS), Australian Leadership Award Scholarships (ALA Scholarships) for high achieving applicants and Australian Regional Development Scholarships (ARDS). Short term awards include Australian Leadership Awards Fellowships (ALA Fellowships), the Prime Minister's Pacific-Australia Awards and short courses. Not all awards are available in all countries.

The South Asia Scholarship Program operates in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka to offer the following development awards:

• Australian Development Scholarships
  
• Australian Leadership Awards Scholarships