NSW nursing students and new graduates living in or looking to work in rural, regional and remote areas are encouraged to apply for new scholarships announced today.
Nine types of scholarships are now open in the first round of the NSW Rural and Regional Health Career Scholarships Program for 2025, which supports students of nursing, midwifery, medicine, dentistry and allied health. The scholarships are designed to support their studies and boost the state’s regional health workforce.
This year the program is expected to support 150 nursing and midwifery students, 100 medical and dentistry and 35 allied health students from regional, rural and remote locations while they undertake their healthcare studies.
The nursing and midwifery scholarships are:
- Diploma of Nursing Rural Travel Support Incentive
- New Graduate Nursing and Midwifery Rural Support Incentive
The Diploma of Nursing Rural Travel Support Incentive provides financial travel assistance for Diploma of Nursing students from a rural area who live more than 100km from their registered training organisation. Eligible students can apply for a travel incentive of $5,000 to go towards the cost of travel and accommodation related to their Diploma of Nursing studies.
Applications are also open for the New Graduate Nursing and Midwifery Rural Support Incentive, which provides a one-off payment of $1,000 to support relocation costs for non-local graduate registered nurses and midwives seeking employment in identified rural or remote local health district locations.
Staffing regional, rural and remote healthcare facilities in NSW was a major challenge, said NSW Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park. “This program is helping to strengthen our regional, rural and remote health workforce in NSW, which will result in improved experiences for patients living in these locations.”
“These scholarships are not just a great opportunity for regional and rural students looking for a career in healthcare, but they will also play a part in helping recruit and retain healthcare workers in our regional communities,” said NSW Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty.
For more information on the Rural and Regional Health Career Scholarships Program, including eligibility criteria and opening dates, visit the NSW Health website
