Nine students from Victoria will receive up to $9000 each to help them complete their tertiary education, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel, Alan Griffin, announced today. Mr Griffin said the Long Tan Bursary Scheme aims to help dedicated students achieve their long-term education goals by easing the financial cost of tertiary study.

“These students have proven their strength of character and commitment to pursuing professional careers and I am pleased that the Australian Government has been able to support them in reaching their goals,” Mr Griffin said.

The nine* Victorian winners this year are:

• Matthew Erbacher – Advanced Diploma Computing Systems (Engineering), Chisholm TAFE;
• Edan Johnson – Bachelor of Health Sciences, Latrobe University;
• Adam Lakey – Bachelor of Science, Latrobe University;
• Mathew Manning – Bachelor of Interactive Entertainment, Qantm College;
• Natalie O’Brien – Bachelor of Asia Pacific Studies, Australian National University;
• Jack Stevens – Bachelor of Primary Teaching, Deakin University; and
• Francis Taylor – Bachelor of Professional and Creative Writing, Deakin University.

The Long Tan Bursary Scheme recognises that children of Vietnam veterans can face health and wellbeing challenges due to their parent’s service and aims to relieve these students of some financial burden so they can concentrate on completing their studies successfully.

Long Tan Bursaries totalling $504,000 will be presented to 56 Australian students this year. More than 300 sons and daughters of Vietnam veterans have benefitted from the bursary scheme since it was introduced in 2000.

The Australian Government is also seeking to lift the aspirations of students who would previously never have considered university through the introduction of two scholarships within the 2009–10 Budget.

* Two of the bursary recipients wish to remain anonymous.