The Tuckwell scholarship is the most generous undergraduate scholarship in Australia. It provides stipends of around $30,000 per year, mentoring, and professional networks. Tuckwell scholars are chosen to be future leaders in Australia who give back to the community.

But this opportunity disproportionately leaves out students from low income, regional, and public school backgrounds.

72% of Tuckwell scholars' schools come from the top socio-economic quartile. The bottom 50% of schools nation-wide are represented by just 19% of Tuckwell scholars. A majority of scholars come from private schools, whereas, a majority of Australians go to public schools.

These future leaders predominantly come from the same affluent background.

We’re calling on the Board of the Tuckwell Scholarship to address the systemic barriers for students from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds to receive this scholarship.

Targeted outreach programs to students from these underrepresented communities must be significantly funded.

Quotas should be imposed so that the Tuckwell scholar cohorts actually represent the whole of Australia. This will require the scholarship to understand the difficulty of applicants experiencing disadvantage to meet criteria in the same way as those from more privileged backgrounds.

As a life changing opportunity to get a world class education, Tuckwell scholars should represent every part of Australia. We can show that your financial background does not determine the quality of your thinking, leadership, and commitment to giving back. 

We call on the Tuckwell Scholarship Board to:

1. set quotas for the selection of Tuckwell scholars according to socio-economic status;
2. substantially increase funding for outreach programs to public, regional, and low-income schools; and
3. explore other means of increasing the diversity of scholars.