Please note: to apply you must be registered in our application management system a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date
Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship
Key dates
Applications close: Tuesday 3 February 2026, 3pm AEDT (or earlier if application limit is met)
Notification date: Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by the end of April 2026
Please note: Perpetual will only accept a limited number of applications annually. Once this limit is met, no further applications can be submitted.
Amount
$30,000 AUD
Contact
If you have a question, or need help with your application, please
call or email us.
Please note: Are you registering to use our Application Management System for the first time? Make sure you register well before the closing date. It can take up to two business days to process your registration.
About the Scholarship
The Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship was established by a Deed of Lady Mollie Askin to further culture and advance education in Australia by providing a travelling scholarship for Australian citizens with outstanding ability and promise in opera singing.
The scholarship is awarded biennially to a young man or male candidate who has outstanding ability and promise in opera singing. The scholarship is worth $30,000, payable in two instalments of $15,000 over two years.
The scholarships are administered by Creative Australia on behalf of Perpetual as trustee.
A list of previous recipients is available here.
Eligibility
Who can apply
Applications for the Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship are open to individual artists who identify as a man or male and are Australian citizens aged 18 – 29 at the closing date.
These are terms established by the Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship Trust. There are no exceptions to these requirements.
If you are an Australian citizen but will have difficulty providing a copy of a birth certificate, passport or citizenship certificate, please contact Artists Services.
Who can’t apply
You can’t apply for a scholarship if:
- you have an overdue grant report
- you owe money to Creative Australia
- you were previously awarded a Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship.
What you can apply for
Scholarship funds can be used to assist with study programs, professional training courses and mentor programs that would not otherwise be obtainable due to lack of financial resources.
Assessment
Assessment Process
Your application will be assessed by Creative Australia staff. We may seek industry advice on your application before making our recommendations to Perpetual, who will make the final decision.
The decision of Perpetual is final, and no feedback will be provided on your application or the decision.
Assessment Criteria
Submissions will be assessed against 2 criteria. Under each criterion are bullet points indicating what Creative Australia staff may consider when assessing your application. You do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.
- Quality
Creative Australia staff will assess your artistic potential and the quality of the proposal.
They may consider:
- the quality of your artistic practice
- the benefit and impact of the proposal on your career development.
- Viability
Creative Australia staff will assess the viability of your proposal. They may consider:
- the relevance and timeliness of your proposed activities
- the role of partners or collaborators, including confirmation of involvement
- realistic and achievable planning and resource use, including any relevant plans for national or international.
Application form
Applications for this Award are submitted via Creative Australia’s Application Management System. If you are using the system for the first time you will need to register your details to access the application form.
Once logged into the AMS, click on ‘Apply for a Grant’ from the left panel menu. Scroll down the list of opportunities. Under ‘Co-Investment Opportunities’ select “The Sir Robert William Askin Operatic Scholarship”.
We do not accept entries submitted via post. Any material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your submission online, please contact Artists Services.
The type of questions we ask in the application form include:
- your name and contact details
- your gender
- confirmation that you are an Australian citizen
- confirmation of your age
- information about your practice, your professional experience and your career goals
- the proposed aims and activities of your scholarship (names of teachers/institutions, travel plans, dates, etc.), and how your planned activities will assist your career
- supporting material relevant to your proposal.
Support material
Support material
Additional material can be submitted to support your application. We will review support material to understand your artistic practice and viability of your proposal.
We do not accept support materials submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, please contact Artists Services.
You can submit the following support material with your application:
- Artistic support material
You may submit up to two URLs (web links). These URLs should be direct links to material that can include video, audio, images, and writing.
Please provide:
- a direct link/URL to a video or audio recording of a performance.
- Letters of support
- video (MP4 and Windows Media)
- audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
- images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
- written material (PDF).
- video (MP4 and Windows Media)
You may include up to three letters of support or written references for you and your scholarship, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page. The letters should explain how the proposed scholarship will benefit you.
Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks). However, if you cannot supply artistic support material via URL, we will accept artistic support material in the following formats:
Please note: Our assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.
If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.
To find out more about support material, including advice on how to get examples of your work online, please contact Artists Services.
