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more info

Winter 2002

Are you a "lapsed" nurse who wants to get back into nursing?

The Commonwealth Remote and Rural Nursing Scholarship Program is one of a range of Federal Government initiatives aimed at increasing the number of nurses living and working in rural and remote Australia.

The Scheme is designed to remove some of the barriers to re-entering the nursing workforce faced by nurses living in rural areas.

The Scheme is for both registered and enrolled nurses whose registration has now lapsed or, who are unable to re-enter the nursing workforce as they have not practiced in recent years.

The Scheme provides up to 200 scholarships annually. Each scholarship, of up to $6,000 per applicant, facilitates rural nurses' capacity to undertake accredited programs that enable them to apply for re-registration or re-entry to the nursing workforce as a nurse in an Australian State or Territory.

The Scheme is open to applicants with a background in rural or remote Australia who intend to undertake an accredited program leading to re-registration or re-entry to practice.
Applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents. They must have had a principle home address in an identified Australian rural or remote area for a substantial period of time.

Preference is given to applicants who will undertake their studies in a rural area and who have a demonstrated commitment to living and working in rural and remote areas.
Applicants must also have once been registered as a registered or enrolled nurse by an Australian nursing registration board or authority.

Retrospective funding is NOW available for nurses who have already commenced their re-entry to practice programme.

Application forms and guidelines are available by contacting the Fund Administrator, Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) on: Freecall 1800 11 22 40