CRS Education Awards

Each year CRS gives education awards to Canberra region students with a refugee/asylum-seeker background. The awardees are aged from 5 to adult and are currently undergoing, primary, secondary or post-secondary education in the Canberra region.

The awardsare named after Mr Geoff McPherson AM, founding President of Canberra Refugee Support Inc.

The 2023 Geoff McPherson Education Awards Program

This year the Annual Geoff McPherson Awards Ceremony were held at 9.30am on Tuesday 20^th June – World Refugee Day, at the Cook Hub Hall.

The awards were presented by ACT Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ms Tara Cheyne MLA, and UNHCR Deputy Regional Representative Mr Nai Jit Lam.

This is a return to our highlight, for awardees, their families, and donors. We hope many of you can join us and the awardees and their families, for this lovely event. We will provide more information closer to the event.

Each year Canberra Refugee Support offers Education Awards to refugee students through the Geoff McPherson CRS Refugee Education Awards Program (previously called the Geoff McPherson CRS Scholarship Program).

The Education Awards are an important part of CRS’s assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, alongside the range of other assistance that CRS provides.

These awards have a multiple purpose, in helping students (or their families) cover education costs, and in encouraging students in their education pursuits and feel welcomed and rewarded in their new life in Australia.

In 2023 we offered Education Awards at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. We provided over 40 Awards within a budget of $28,000. Primary awards are $300, secondary awards are $500, and post-secondary awards (adults and college students) are awarded $1,000.

Some of the CRS Education Awards 2023 Recipients

CRS Education Awards 2022

Each year CRS provides Education Awards to Canberra Region students with a refugee/ asylum seeker background. The awardees are aged from 5 to adult and are currently undergoing primary, secondary or post-secondary education in the Canberra region.

The Education Awards are named after Mr Geoff McPherson AM, founding President of Canberra Refugee Support Inc.

In 2022, CRS provided 46 awards at a total value of $33,400. These included 26 awards for college students and adults in post-secondary education, 7 awards for secondary school students, and 13 awards for primary school students.

Nearly two thirds of the awardees were female. The awardees came from a range of countries with 40% this year from Afghanistan. Other countries and regions of origin include Myanmar, Central Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Malaysia, and China.

Through this program we want to say to the recipients that we welcome you to the Canberra Region, we acknowledge what you have achieved so far, and we look forward to what you will contribute to your family and to the community in the future.

The awards presented were only possible due to the generous donations from the Canberra Community, including Hands Across Canberra and OMA. We particularly thank those individuals and community groups that have provided us with generous, continued, and longstanding support. Without your assistance, CRS would not be able to assist these wonderful students in their studies.

As in previous years, the awardees were nominated by our partners, the ACT Education Directorate, Australian Red Cross (ARC), Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT), Companion House, NAVITAS, Max Solutions and CRS. All these organisations provide training or support to refugee and asylum seeker students in the Canberra Region.

Normally awards are presented at a major ceremony during United Nations World Refugee Week. As in 2021, we had a number of smaller ceremonies in June linked to the organisations that nominated the awardees. CRS hopes that we will be able to return to a single major ceremony in future years.

Past CRS Scholarship Recipients: