Australia Awards Fellowships Round 21 (2026): Eligibility, Priority Areas & How to Apply

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About the award

Fellowships enable Australian organisations to deepen engagement and build enduring partnerships with emerging leaders and institutions in the region and beyond. Funding is available for Australian organisations to host mid-level and senior officials from Overseas Counterpart Organisations to gain valuable skills and knowledge through short-term professional development in Australia. This is a fantastic opportunity to strengthen institutional capacity, foster mutual learning and innovation, and lead priority development outcomes in partnership with Australia.

Are you an Australian organisation with overseas links, or interested in creating new partnerships that make a positive impact?

Australian organisations are invited to apply now for an Australia Awards Fellowship and make a difference.

Who can apply?

Australian Organisations in partnership with Overseas Counterpart Organisations (OCOs) in eligible developing countries are eligible to apply for an Australia Awards Fellowship.

Australian Organisations must be able to demonstrate links with Overseas Counterpart Organisations (OCOs) in eligible countries and must demonstrate commitment to the partnership and Fellowship program through an in-kind and/or financial co-contribution.

Individuals cannot apply.

Applicants must be Australian Organisations who are legal entities with a current Australian Business Number (ABN). Examples include:

Australian organisations, institutions, and businesses — for example but not limited to private sector, research centres, higher education providers, vocational education and training providers, peak bodies, Australian chambers of commerce, community groups, non-government organisations, media organisations, professional associations, and industry bodies.
Australian Government departments — (Federal, State/Territory and local), government agencies, statutory authorities, and Government Business Enterprises.

OCOs cannot be an international arm or branch of the Australian Organisation, nor can it be under the same overarching international organisation or international consortium as the Australian organisation.

The OCO must operate and reside in an eligible country. OCOs cannot be individuals.

New or emerging partnerships with OCOs will be considered.

Fellow eligibility

Australia Awards Fellowships target senior officials and mid-career professionals, who, in the short to medium term, will be in a position to advance priority development and foreign affairs issues on their return home.

Australian Organisations must ensure that all nominated Fellows meet the following general eligibility requirements:

be a minimum of 18 years of age at the time of commencing the Fellowship;
not be an Australian citizen or be applying for Australian citizenship -this includes dual citizenship where one of the citizenships is Australian;
not have Australian permanent resident status or be applying for Australian permanent residency;
be a citizen of and residing in an eligible developing country. The Fellow’s country of citizenship and residency may differ;
not be current serving military personnel;
not be married or engaged to, or be a de facto of a person who holds, or is eligible to hold, Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency;
have been working in their country of citizenship or residency and in an area relevant to the Fellowship activities preceding the date of the proposed commencement of their Fellowship;
be able to satisfy all requirements determined by the Department of Home Affairs for a visa;
be able to participate in the nominated Fellowship activities at the time and for the full duration proposed by the Australian Host Organisation (AHO), except in exceptional circumstances, where approved by the Australia Awards Global Support Unit (GSU) and DFAT;
be able to travel without family members as DFAT will only fund and provide visa support letters for individual Fellows, not their family members;
have an adequate level of English language ability to be able to fully participate in the program, including an ability to complete the Fellow’s Completion Survey at the conclusion of their Fellowship.
- Note: AHOs are responsible for ensuring Fellows have an adequate level of English language ability or must implement appropriate measures to enable Fellows to fully participate in and benefit from the Fellowship activities (e.g., translation services).
- DFAT does not recommend using translation services for Multi-country Fellowships where use of translation services may compromise learning outcomes or where English language capabilities differ substantially amongst Fellows.

Eligible countries

Pacific

Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna

Southeast Asia

Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam

South Asia and Middle East

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Jordan and State of Palestine

Africa

Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Caribbean

Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname

Europe

Ukraine

Priority areas

Fellowship programs must align with one of the following six development priority areas:

Climate change, adaptation, resilience and green energy transition (including critical mineral mining)
Health
Gender equality, disability equity and social inclusion
Digital Economy, cyber resilience, and media engagement
Maritime and the Blue Economy
Infrastructure and connectivity.

Application Compliance Criteria

Applications MUST meet the below mandatory criteria to be progress to the assessment stage:

Provide all information in the specified format
Application has been submitted by a legal Australian Entity with a current ABN
Applicant cannot be an individual/ OCO
Submitting officer is an employee of the Australian Organisation
Applicant Organisation has not exceeded six applications.
Application cannot exceed 15 DFAT-funded Fellows (does not include AHO/OCO funded Fellows)
Application only covers eligible countries
Application includes a co-contribution from the Australian Organisation
In-Partner country activity is included
Proposal aligns with one of the development priority areas
A minimum of two weeks is delivered in Australia
Proposed Fellowship is between two and 52 weeks in duration (this is inclusive of in-Australia, online, and in-partner country(ies) activities) – cannot be longer than 52 weeks in total.
In-Australia activity duration is longer than the in-partner country activity duration
OCO(s) is/are from an eligible ODA listed country(ies)
OCOs cannot be an international arm or branch of the Australian organisation, nor can it be under the same overarching international organisation or international consortium as the Australian organisation. The OCO must operate and reside in an eligible country.
Applicant is not listed in the National Redress Scheme (Institutions that have not joined or signified their intent to join the Scheme
Applicant is not listed in the proscribed lists:

How to apply

Australia Awards Fellowships Round 21 is now open for applications.

Australian Organisations are encouraged to apply through SmartyGrants .

Key dates for Round 21

3 November 2025 – applications for Round 21 open
10 November 2025 – Industry Information Session held
16 January 2026 (11:59pm AEDT) – applications for Round 21 close
From July 2026 – Round 21 Outcome – successful and unsuccessful notifications made to all applicants
From September 2026 – 29 March 2028 – Round 21 Fellowship activity window
From 30 September 2026 – Supplementary Information Form opens for successful Australin Host Organisations under Round 21
Six (6) months prior to Fellow’s mobilisation to Australia/start date in Australia – Supplementary Information Form closes
1 January 2027 – Round 21 In-Australia Activity Start date.

Australia Awards Fellowships Round 21 (2026): Eligibility, Priority Areas & How to Apply

About the award

Who can apply?

Fellow eligibility