Avant Foundation bursaries

In 2026, Avant Foundation continues to strengthen the future medical workforce through two complementary Bursary streams: its long-standing partnership with
the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA), and a national university-based Bursary program. While delivered separately, both streams are united by a clear objective, improving equity of access to medical education and supporting a more diverse, representative and sustainable healthcare system.

AIDA Bursary program 

Established in 2017, Avant Foundation’s partnership with AIDA remains a cornerstone of its equity commitment. Delivered directly through AIDA, this Bursary stream supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students through financial assistance combined with access to culturally grounded mentorship, leadership development and professional networks.

This approach recognises that improving representation in medicine requires more than financial support alone. By embedding students within a strong
national community of Indigenous doctors and trainees, the program supports not only access, but also retention, cultural safety and long-term success.

National university Bursary program
In parallel, FY26 marks the expansion of a university-led Bursary program designed to address financial and structural barriers at scale. Delivered through
all 22 universities across Australia offering medical degrees, the program is embedded within existing scholarship frameworks, enabling efficient administration and long-term sustainability.

The university Bursary provides $10,000 per student per year across the Doctor of Medicine program, with funding delivered through multi-year agreements to ensure continuity of support. The model is explicitly equity-based, with no
administration fees, ensuring the full value reaches students.

Equity-based eligibility framework
A defining feature of the university Bursary program is its structured equity framework, designed to prioritise students experiencing one or more forms of disadvantage. 

Eligibility considerations include:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
• residency in regional, rural or remote areas
• low socio-economic status
• living with disability
• identification as LGBTIQA+
• culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

This multi-dimensional approach reflects a contemporary understanding of disadvantage, recognising that barriers to medical education are often overlapping and cumulative.

Strengthening access, retention and workforce diversity
Across both streams, the focus extends beyond entry into medicine to include retention, progression and long-term workforce participation.
By reducing financial pressure and strengthening support structures, the programs enable students to complete their training and contribute meaningfully to the healthcare system.

This dual-stream model reflects Avant Foundation’s broader shift toward system-level impact, investing not only in individual students, but in the structures
that shape access, opportunity and outcomes.

Avant Foundation has three other grant programs to help fulfil our impact objectives.