September 4, 2016
Applications close on September 30 for the inaugural Dr Ellen Mary Kent Hughes Memorial Scholarship … a $5000 bursary to assist a young South Burnett woman with tertiary study.
The scholarship is being offered by South Burnett Women, and was launched at the International Women’s Day breakfast hosted by the group earlier this year.
Dr Ellen Mary Kent Hughes is a former Kingaroy Shire Councillor, and the first woman elected to local government in Queensland.
Funds for the scholarship were raised at the International Women’s Day breakfast, which was held in collaboration with partners Deb Frecklington MP, South Burnett CTC, South Burnett District Law Association, Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory, Centacare Community Connections, and SBcare.
“With Year 12 students across Australia preparing to take their final exams, we hope this scholarship will assist and encourage a local young women to transition into further studies next year,” SB Women president Caroline Cavanagh said.
Applicants must live within the boundaries of the South Burnett local government area and fulfil eligibility criteria (see below).
They must also be able to provide evidence of their course enrolment.
South Burnett Women was set up to connect women from across the region.
“It’s about friendship, opportunities for collaboration, support and most of all, fun,” Ms Cavanagh said.
The group holds regular “Friday at Five” events which are casual social evenings which are open to women from across the region.
Updates are available on the South Burnett Women Facebook page
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Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible applicants must be:
- An Australian Citizen or have permanent resident status
- A resident of the South Burnett as defined by the local government boundaries
- Female
- Enrolled at a tertiary education institution by 31 January 2017
- In a position to begin study in 2017
- Willing to attend one South Burnett Women event in 2017
- Able to demonstrate academic or employment credentials
- Able to demonstrate previous recent community contribution
- Able to demonstrate financial merits ie why you need the scholarship
Applicants must also submit a personal statement outlining:
- A description of their career aims and goals
- How the scholarship will assist them to achieve their future career plans
- Their personal financial circumstances to establish financial merits
- Provide evidence of sound or higher academic achievement eg. high school report card or post-secondary academic history, as applicable
- For mature applicants, provide evidence of employment or academic achievement
- Demonstrate a history of involvement within their school, extracurricular activities or within their local community
- Demonstrate a commitment to social justice principles and/or bringing people from diverse backgrounds together; or leadership and communication skills
- Attach a Curriculum Vitae ;
- Attach proof of residence within the South Burnett Region as defined by the local government boundaries by providing a copy of one of the following: Driver’s licence, Electoral Commission notice, telephone or electricity bills, correspondence from an organisation such as Centrelink or a financial institution
Download information sheet (257kb PDF) and application form (160kb PDF)
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About Dr Ellen Mary Kent Hughes (1893-1979)
In 1918, as a newly widowed mother, Dr Kent Hughes was appointed resident medical officer at the Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane, on a salary of £50 a year.
Shortly afterward she accepted a locum tenancy at Mitchell at a time when the State was gripped by drought and the pneumonic influenza epidemic.
In 1920, Dr Kent Hughes married Francis Garde Wesley Wilson (d.1970) at All Saints Anglican Church and moved to the South Burnett. She became Queensland’s first female councillor when she was elected to the Kingaroy Shire Council in 1923.
Dr Kent Hughes said that she “never found that being a woman had the slightest adverse effect” on her career.
She became honorary paediatrician at the Armidale and New England Hospital, government medical officer and a Justice of the Peace, she was ‘tireless in her ministrations’, ‘firm in her admonitions’ and resolute in answering calls.
Dr Kent Hughes published two articles in the Medical Journal of Australia: “Observations on Congenital Syphilis” (1919) and “The Role of the Private Practitioner in Preventive Medicine” (1967).
