Growth Scholarships

A Timber Queensland Growth Scholarship offers funding to Queensland based forest and timber industry professionals and workers who are in their early or mid career years. 

Growth Scholarships facilitate access to learning experiences and opportunities that will foster a passion for working in the forest and timber industry and enhance career pathways.

Applications have closed for this year

Who is eligible to apply for a Timber Queensland Growth Scholarship?

• Available to residents of Queensland only
• Focused on early career professionals and granted to applicants aged 18 – 45 years
• Open to applicants working in both the public and private sector
• Open to applicants working in all segments and levels of the forest and timber industry supply chain, or currently undertaking studies related to the forest and timber industry

What can you use a Timber Queensland Growth Scholarship for?

A Growth Scholarship will provide financial assistance (e.g., cost of course/fees, travel, time away from a job) for a learning project.

A learning project can include informal and formal experiences and innovation learnings, such as assistance with on-the-job training, short courses, study tours, components/units of formal qualifications, attendance at conferences and events, short term work placements and/or secondments to gain experience.

DIAMOND PARTNER HQPlantations Award - $5000
DIAMOND PARTNER AKD Award - $5000

What is the assessment and selection process?

Applications for the 2024 – 2025 Growth Scholarships closed on Sunday 30 June 2024.  Applications for each Award will be considered by a selection committee comprising of one Timber Queensland staff member and a cross section of industry representatives with appropriate expertise to assess applicants.

Interviews are only required for The Kennedy’s Timber Award and will be conducted on 26 July 2024, ideally in person or online as necessary.   The selection process for all Awards will conclude by the end of July, all applicants will be advised of the outcome on 1 August 2024.

Once the application is commenced online it cannot be saved.  A pdf copy of the form is available here to enable the opportunity to plan your application before final submission. It is recommended to prepare your answers in a word document and then cut and paste into the online form.

Terms and Conditions

The award of a TQ Growth Scholarship is subject to the recipient agreeing to be bound by the following terms and conditions and signing an agreement between Timber Queensland and the recipient.

• Applications submitted jointly by more than one person will not be considered. Scholarships are awarded to an individual and cannot be shared or transferred.
• You are only eligible for one Scholarship per year; however you may apply for more than one Scholarship provided the applications are submitted for different categories. Each application must be on a separate form.
• Unless a Scholarship has been forfeited due to unforeseen circumstances, past Scholarship recipients are ineligible for an award in the same category for a period of two years.
• Applications must include a budget estimating the cost of the learning project and the proposed use of the Scholarship funds. Only reasonable costs should be budgeted for, scholarship funds must not be used for the purchase of equipment (e.g. computers, cameras, telephones, materials, supplies and costs associated with a spouse or family member).
• Scholarship funds must only be used for the purposes outlined in your Proposal. You are responsible for all expenses additional to the Scholarship funds provided.
• Milestone payments for each Award will be negotiated individually and will be dependent on proof of learning project progression.
• Unless otherwise approved by Timber Queensland, you must commence your learning project in the financial year you are granted the Scholarship. A later commencement date will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.
• There may be tax implications related to you being awarded a Growth Scholarship.  Any scholarships paid are likely to be treated as assessable income.  Timber Queensland has no responsibility or authority in the matter but recommends that scholarship recipients keep receipts for all expenditure and seek independent advice with respect to their eligibility for claiming tax deductions. 
• There may be GST implications for scholarships paid to recipients who are self-employed or hold an ABN. Any GST liability will be borne by Timber Queensland and will not affect the amount of funds allocated for the scholarship.

Past recipients of the Timber Queensland Growth Scholarships

• Kennedy's Timber Award - $10 000 
  • 2024 - 2025 - Trinh Huynh - Silvopasture study tour in the Southeast climate hub in the US
  • 2023 - 2024 Katie Fowden - Canadian Exemplar First Nations Forestry Partnerships
  • 2022 - 2023 Adam Faircloth for his Learning Project “Vibroacoustic Study Tour” 
  • Read Adam's Learning Project report here
• HQPlantations Award - $5000
  • 2024 - 2025 - Matt Kavanagh - Growing Planting Mechanisation study tour
  • 2023 - 2024 Nicola Morris - Designing a Healthy Home – Researching Building Biology & Passivhaus Principles
  • 2022 - 2023 Brendan Foster for his Learning Project “Refocusing the future of Queensland’s forests”
  • Read Brendan's Learning Project report here
• AKD Award - $5000
  • 2024 - 2025 Bianca Andreis Da Cunha Forestry’s Future: Women’s Protagonism in leading Sustainable change – Yale School of Management Executive Education's online Women's Leadership Program
  • 2023 - 2024 John Said - Mechanisation of the Pruning Regime
  • 2022 - 2023 Chandan Kumar  for his Learning Project “Understanding silvicultural and environmental factors affecting density and stiffness of Queensland’s Southern Pine Plantations”
• Read Chandan's Learning Project report here
• DTM Timber Award - $2500
  •  2024 - 2025 Kristiina Marquardt Training to obtain a Remote Pilot Licence (RePL) - Multirotor 25kg
  • 2023 - 2024 Daniel Schweitzer - Cert IV Work Health & Safety
  • 2022 - 2023 Darcy Oborne for his Learning Project “Certificate IV in Human Resources”

See here for more detail about the 2022 - 2023 Award Recipients and here for information about the 2023 - 2024 Award Recipients.  

The 2022 – 2023 Award recipients shared their experiences thinking of an idea for a “learning project” and how winning an award has impacted their careers so far.  It was very interesting and inspiring!

You can watch the webinar on demand here (use the passcode 6u&n@Acb)

Contact Information

If you require more information regarding the Growth Scholarship Program contact

Clarissa Brandt, Strategic Relations & Communications Manager - clarissa@timberqueensland.com.au

Promotional Material

We encourage organisations to promote the Growth Scholarship Program to their staff.  Promotional material include flyers and social media posts are available for your use.  If you would like copies of these please contact admin@timberqueensland.com.au