• Queensland Health offers 26 scholarships for registered nurses enrolled in Charles Sturt’s Graduate Diploma of Midwifery
• The course is offered online and scholarships are available to people working in a public hospital in Queensland
• Applications close on Monday 13 January 2025

Charles Sturt University is playing a crucial role in Queensland Health’s efforts in taking a proactive approach to addressing rural midwife shortages.

Queensland Health has provided 26 scholarships to registered nurses who want to study the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery online with Charles Sturt University. Similar scholarships are already offered in New South Wales and the ACT.

One Charles Sturt student commenced study on the scholarship this year while the rest of the scholarships are to be awarded in 2025. Six of the scholarships are specifically for nurses that identify as First Nations.

The Clinical Excellence Queensland Midwifery Scholarships are valued at $7,432 each, which covers students’ course fees and intensive school travel. Further money is available for up to four week’s relocation assistance if students need to attend tertiary placement.

Head of Discipline (Midwifery) and Lecturer in Nursing and Midwifery with the Charles Sturt School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences in Wagga Wagga Ms Alicia Carey and Lecturer in Nursing and Midwifery in Albury-Wodonga Ms Tameeka Mulquiney met with Queensland’s Chief Midwife in her Brisbane office this week.

Ms Carey said the scholarships will go a long way to filling shortages in the rural healthcare sector.

“There is currently a shortage of midwives across Australia, especially in rural areas, meaning less opportunity for women to receive care in small hospitals,” she said.

“Rural sites suffer much more shortages and often small maternity units are closed if there are no midwives to staff them, which means women have to travel to the nearest centre to birth which may involve extensive travel.”

Queensland has placement-based midwifery, a collaborative employment model, which means registered nurses are employed as student midwives and study part-time online while getting paid for the duration of their 12- to 18-month course.

Requirements for applying for the scholarship include that applicants are Australian citizens and must be enrolled in the Charles Sturt Graduate Diploma of Midwifery. They must be currently employed as a registered nurse/student midwife working in a public maternity facility/hospital in Queensland.

Applications for the scholarship are now open and close on Monday 13 January 2025.