Helen Maslen Scholarship

Scholarship details

Donor

Establishment

This scholarship was established by Helen Maslen to support students who are survivors of domestic violence, empowering them to achieve their education ambitions and independence.

Helen grew up in Sydney and married young. In the ensuing twenty years she had five children and was the victim of repeated domestic violence at the hands of her husband. With no support, no finances and five children to care for, Helen had nowhere to go in a time when domestic violence was very much swept under the carpet and authorities had no power to intervene.

Helen vowed, should she ever come into money, she would use it to help others who have also been traumatised by domestic violence. Helen hopes that her scholarship will empower survivors by providing opportunity through education – giving domestic violence survivors strength, independence and the ability to achieve their dreams.

The impacts of domestic violence can be felt many years post violence and may affect the survivor’s ability to study. Research data shows that significant recovery can occur when the survivor has access to social, educational or financial support such as this scholarship. Some survivors may describe their experiences as being both negative and positive in terms of the strength and empowerment gained in the survival process. Accessing higher education and support available can contribute to this important positive sense of surviving.

Students enrolled or enrolling in enabling, undergraduate, and postgraduate coursework levels of study are invited to apply.

For more information on this scholarship, please review the full Terms and Conditions.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this scholarship, you will need to:

• Be enrolled (or enrolling) in any year of an enabling, undergraduate, or postgraduate degree program at the University of Newcastle.
• Be enrolled either full-time or part-time.
• Demonstrate that the ability to study is affected, or will be affected, by financial hardship.
• Have accessed higher education as part of a process for surviving domestic violence.
• Demonstrate sound academic performance either by ATAR required for entry to your program or satisfactory progression through your degree and/or enabling subjects.
• Not be the recipient of another University of Newcastle donor-funded or sponsored scholarship concurrently.

Required Documentation

Required documents will be listed on the ‘Your Documents’ page of your application. The application portal accepts PDF only. A maximum of 3 PDF smaller than 5 MB can be added per document type upload field.

• A personal statement (approx. 1 A4 page) outlining your academic achievements, career aspirations in the relevant area of study, and how this scholarship would assist you. This statement will cover all scholarships you are submitting for.

• You will be asked the question Are you accessing higher education as part of your process for surviving domestic violence? which requires a yes/no response.

• A Letter of Support completed by a responsible person who can comment on the educational impact of your circumstances and/or condition (see terms and conditions for more detail).

• You may use your Medical and/or Educational Impact Statements if applying for other equity scholarships for ongoing effects of abuse, but you do not have to for this scholarship.

• You may need to provide documents to support financial hardship, although a centrelink reference number may be enough. Additional documents will be identified based on your application responses and listed in the Documents section of the application.

Benefit

This scholarship provides a benefit of $5,000, paid as a two lump sums of $2,500 after semester one and two census dates.

Selection

Selection is a competitive process and will be based on assessment of the scholarship application and any required supporting documents, with reference to the eligibility criteria.

Selection will be made by the Multi-Faculty Selection Panel which will consist of a minimum of three members chosen by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic.

College

• College of Engineering Science and Environment
• College of Health Medicine and Wellbeing
• College of Human and Social Futures

Contact Details

Admissions and Scholarships
Student and Academic Services
University of Newcastle
University Drive
CALLAGHAN NSW 2308

Phone: +61 2 4921 5000
Email: scholarships@newcastle.edu.au