Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation Nursing Scholarships
Our 2025 scholarships are now open
The Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation Nursing Scholarship program provides opportunities to inspire and transform your future career in health. Like Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, embark on a rewarding career in Enrolled Nursing, Registered Nursing, or Postgraduate/Higher Degree Nursing (or related disciplines) in 2025.
Our nursing scholarships honour the memory of Yankunytjatjara woman, the late Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG, a trailblazing leader whose extraordinary lifetime of work reshaped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Dr O’Donoghue broke barriers in 1954 as the first Aboriginal person permitted to train as a nurse at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, earning Triple Certificate qualifications in nursing, midwifery, and mental health – she opened doors and kept them open, creating opportunities for generations to follow.
Dr O’Donoghue passed away on Kaurna Country aged 91 years on 4 February 2024.
Seventy years on from Dr O’Donoghue’s pioneering achievement, we now invite you to walk through the doors she opened and carry forward her legacy of excellence and possibility.
Explore our three streams of Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation Nursing Scholarships that support aspiring and current nurses in advancing their qualifications:
Registered Nursing Scholarship
Postgraduate/Higher Degree Nursing Scholarship (or related discipline course)
For all enquiries, please contact: foundationscholarships@lowitja.org.au
Don’t wait – apply now to join a legacy of excellence, innovation, and impact in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Applications close 20 January 2025.
Watch the video below to hear from our inaugural nursing scholarship recipient, Emma Scarce.
