Access is the beginning. Support is what carries it through.
Madalah provides secondary and tertiary scholarships for First Nations students across Western Australia and the Northern Territory, backed by wraparound, culturally safe support that stays with every student long after the offer letter arrives. We believe a scholarship is just the start, not the whole story, and Madalah exists to help write a chapter.
When applying for a scholarship, it’s important that all application criteria are met. Scholarships are only for young people of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.
About the
Scholarships
Secondary Scholarships
For students moving into leading Western Australian or Northern Territory boarding schools, Madalah’s secondary scholarships remove financial barriers and open the door to opportunity, while our wraparound support ensures students never have to leave their identity behind to walk through it.
Secondary Student Criteria
- Be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and be able to provide proof of descent
- Demonstrate some form of disadvantage, e.g. financial and/or geographic
- Apply to one or more of our partner schools
- Have a home location in Western Australia or the Northern Territory
Tertiary Scholarships
For students moving into full-time study at an Australian university, Madalah’s tertiary scholarships support the next chapter, from enrolment through to graduation and career transition.
Tertiary Student Criteria
- Be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and be able to provide proof of descent
- Have applied or be in the process of applying to an Australian university for full-time study
- Have a home location in Western Australia or the Northern Territory
Wraparound Support
Here for the whole journey, not just the highlights.
Our support extends well beyond the school day and school term, growing into an ongoing relationship with crisis support and advocacy, guidance through social and academic challenges, mentoring through the transition to tertiary study, and continued connection long after formal support concludes.
Academic Success Support
From settling into a new school environment to preparing tertiary applications, our team provides practical guidance at every academic milestone, helping students build the skills and confidence to manage each transition well, and to keep moving forward when things get difficult.
Cultural Safety & Connection
Culture isn’t separate from a student’s success; it’s part of what makes it possible. Our team works to ensure every student stays connected to community, language and identity throughout their time with us, and feels culturally safe within their school environment, whatever that requires.
Wellbeing & Pastoral Care
Boarding away from home, family and community brings real challenges, particularly in a student’s first year. Our team provides pastoral care and wellbeing support throughout the year, including school holidays, so every student has someone consistent to turn to.
Crisis Support & Advocacy
When a student needs additional support, personal, academic or cultural, our team steps in directly, working with schools, families and students to resolve challenges quickly and appropriately, and to advocate for the student wherever it’s needed.
This support is:
- Culturally safe, always — woven into every interaction, not an add-on program
- Delivered by staff with lived experience — people who have walked this path themselves
- Adaptive and personalised — because every student’s journey is different
- Consistent — the same people, building real relationships over years, not check-ins
Partner Schools
Partnership that goes further than enrolment.
Madalah partners with leading Western Australian and Northern Territory boarding schools to give students access to quality education, without asking them to leave their culture at the door. Every partnership is built on shared responsibility: our partner schools provide the educational environment; Madalah provides the cultural safety, mentorship and wraparound support that makes genuine success possible.
Our partner schools don’t choose this path for visibility. Many have built genuine inclusion and reconciliation into the core of who they are, and partnering with Madalah is simply an extension of that commitment, not a program bolted on for appearances. It’s this shared belief, more than any formal arrangement, that makes each partnership work.
Together with our longstanding partner schools, we turn opportunity into genuine, lasting success, working directly with school staff, boarding houses and Indigenous Liaison Officers to make sure every student is properly supported, not just enrolled.
Mentoring Program
Guidance from people who’ve been exactly where you are.
Madalah mentors share the mindset and our mission that self-determination isn’t something we give, it’s something we nurture and support. Many have travelled the very path our students are on, which makes them relatable, and makes the next step, whether tertiary study or the world of work, feel genuinely possible. Our mentors engage with students at events and school mentoring sessions throughout the year, delivering tailored sessions and creating space for students to talk through their week, their challenges and their aspirations.
Every mentor is inducted and completes a professional development day covering the role of mentoring, code of conduct, Education Department disclosure training, and mental health and wellbeing, ensuring every mentoring relationship is safe, supported and properly equipped.
Mentoring sits alongside the wraparound support already provided by Madalah, our partner schools’ Indigenous Liaison Officers, and wider staff teams, one more layer of connection for every student. For many of our mentors, stepping into this role is a full-circle moment, returning to Madalah not as a student, but as someone a younger student now looks up to.
With thanks to our partners & supporters
