Is completing a placement in a rural or regional area putting you under financial pressure? The Faculty of Health Rural Clinical Support Scheme can help you by easing financial stress and allowing you to have hands-on relevant work experience in a rural location.
This application form is for Medicine students who are completing their fourth year rotation in a rural or regional area. If you are a Nursing or Allied Health student, please use the Rural Clinical Support Scheme (Nursing and Allied Health) application.
The scheme is made possible due to funding provided by the Federal Government and will only be offered to students while grant funds remain available. Please read the policy below, prior to submitting your application.
To be eligible you must be:
- a current Doctor of Medicine student enrolled in HME931, HME932, HME941, or HME942.
- an Australian citizen, international student or holder of an Australian permanent humanitarian visa
- eligible locations are within the Western Victoria Primary Health Network (refer to map) with an MM2 to MM6 rating (you can confirm this at the Department of Health Workforce Location website – please use the 2023 Modified Monash Model filter).
View the map of locations
The following conditions apply to this funding:
- Students are not eligible for funding where the rural placement takes place within 80km of their home address
- Students may apply for funding only once they are enrolled and their rotation location in an MM2 to MM5 area has been confirmed by their clinical school administrator
- Students must return their funding if for any reason they do not complete the placement unit
Applications will be assessed on a case by case basis.
Deakin Rural Health reserves the right to not award an allowance even if a student believes they meet all the eligibility criteria.
Unsuccessful applicants who wish to appeal the outcome of their application should email the Deakin Rural Health Student Support Team, to determine if they may be eligible to access funding and/or support. Please email: drhstudentofficer@deakin.edu.au
Deakin Rural Health accommodation information
If there is Deakin Rural Health accommodation at the location of placement, the student will be expected to stay in that facility. If a student declines the use of DRH accommodation, then the RCSS amount offered may be withheld or reduced (and supporting documentation required).
If there is DRH accommodation at the placement location but no rooms available, the student may be offered the full, weekly amount.
International students may stay in DRH accommodation (and pay full rental cost) but will not be eligible to receive the RCSS.
Application dates
Application dates are as per below table. Please note that placements must be confirmed prior to applying.
| Study period | Application dates |
|---|
| Trimester / Semester 2 2026 | Applications open 1 June 2026 and close 30 November 2026 |
| Trimester 3 2026 | Applications open 12 October 2026 and close 12 February 2027 |
| Trimester / Semester 1 2026 | Applications open 5 January 2026 and close 31 July 2026 |
Application form
Please answer the following questions to apply for the Rural Clinical Support Scheme.
Your application will be assessed and you will be advised of the outcome via email.
Required fields are marked with an asterisk (*).
Deakin University is collecting your personal information on this form for the primary purpose of determining your eligibility to receive the Rural Clinical Support Scheme (Medicine). It will also use this information to help plan for grants of this nature that may be developed in future years. For these purposes Deakin may also provide cohort-level summaries of this information to the Commonwealth Department of Health, in de-identified summary formats, as part of our annual reporting requirements.
You are not required to provide the information requested, however if the information is not provided, Deakin may not be able to determine your eligibility to receive a Rural Clinical Support Scheme (Medicine).
Deakin manages personal information it holds, including requests by individuals for access to their personal information, in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). Deakin’s Privacy Policy may be viewed in the Deakin Policy Library.
Information on privacy at Deakin is available at deakin.edu.au/privacy. Questions about privacy may be directed to the Privacy Officer on (03) 5227 8524 or by email to privacy@deakin.edu.au.
