Canstar Blue Future of Comparison Scholarship - 2022

1. Acceptance of these terms and conditions

Information on how to apply for the 2022 Canstar Blue Future of Comparison Scholarship (Scholarship) forms part of these terms and conditions. Submission of an application for the Scholarship is deemed acceptance of these terms and conditions and Canstar Blue’s privacy policy at https://www.canstarblue.com.au/privacy-policy/.

Canstar Blue reserves the right to vary these terms and conditions at any time without notice before the closing date of Monday 31 October 2022.

2. Overview

Canstar Blue offers a scholarship to support Australian citizens and permanent residents in undertaking their tertiary studies at an accredited Australian university or TAFE institute. Canstar Blue will award the eligible student who we feel best demonstrates an understanding of a trending consumer product or service and its implications for Australian consumers.

If you are currently enrolled at an accredited university or TAFE in Australia, you are eligible to apply for the Scholarship. Accredited Australian universities and TAFEs are searchable on https://training.gov.au/ , a joint initiative of the Australian and state and territory governments. 

3. Details

One award under the Scholarship valued at AU$5,000 will be granted by the Scholarship Committee (see point 6) to a scholarship winner (if any) who has met the eligibility criteria and is judged to have written the best Essay answer. The award granted is to assist the scholarship winner with the cost of tuition and study.

As part of the Scholarship prize, the scholarship winner will also receive a single two-hour career coaching session with a nominated Canstar Blue representative, which includes a critical review of the scholarship winner’s CV, a mock interview, and an interview coaching session.

The non-monetary portions of the prize may be delivered to the scholarship winner in person at Canstar Blue’s Brisbane office, or using Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts or any other form of video conferencing software at a time that is determined by Canstar Blue. The manner of delivery of the non-monetary portions of the prize is at Canstar Blue’s absolute discretion and depends upon where the scholarship winner is located.

4. Eligibility

To be eligible for the Scholarship, each Applicant must:

• be over the age of 18 at the time of application;
• be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia;
• have been accepted into, or be enrolled full-time or part-time in an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at an Australian university or TAFE, or both, at the time of entry and awarding of scholarship; and
• submit an application and Essay answer to [email protected] by the closing date for applications.

Additionally, an Applicant is ineligible if:

• they are an employee of any company in the Canstar group, or if they are an immediate family member (spouse/partner, children, parents) of an employee of any company in the Canstar group; or
• they have previously been awarded a scholarship from any company in the Canstar group.

5. Applications

a) Application forms (the 2022 Canstar Blue Scholarship application form) are available on the Canstar Blue website.  All applications must include a fully completed application form signed by the Applicant and an Essay answer written by the Applicant.

b) Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 AEST, Monday 31 October 2022 via email to [email protected] .

c) Only one application is permitted per Applicant.

d) The Essay answer must be submitted in Word format, Google Doc format or PDF and must not be more than 800 words in length, excluding appropriate referencing using the Chicago-stylenotes and bibliography system .

e) The Essay answer must be in English, and may include one diagram.

f) The Essay answer must be the Applicant’s original work and may not be plagiarised from the works of others. 

g) The Essay answer must not have been previously published or submitted for publication.

h) The Essay answer must not infringe another’s intellectual property rights or moral rights.

i) To facilitate the blind review process, the Essay answer must not include any information that might identify the Applicant.  Instead, that information is to be supplied in the application form, which is to be submitted with the Essay answer.

j) Please do not contact Canstar Blue with regard to your scholarship application once lodged. All Applicants will be contacted upon determination of the scholarship winner in January 2023. Canstar Blue will not provide individual feedback on why an application was unsuccessful.

k) Canstar Blue may contact Applicants to clarify anything in their application. Any contact is not indicative of an Applicant’s standing in the selection process, and in no way indicates whether or not that Applicant has been selected as the scholarship winner.

l) Incomplete applications will not be considered. Any personal details provided incorrectly on the application form may be deemed by Canstar Blue as an invalid submission. Canstar Blue reserves the right to utilise a plagiarism checker tool to ensure that the Essay submitted by an Applicant is the Applicant’s original, unpublished work. Canstar Blue may, at its complete discretion, not consider an application that it considers contains work that is not entirely the Applicant’s. 

Canstar Blue’s privacy policy athttps://www.canstarblue.com.au/privacy-policy/ applies to the personal information provided by Applicants.

6. Selection criteria and conditions

Canstar Blue has appointed a Scholarship Committee comprising of nominated representatives of Canstar Blue (Scholarship Committee) to review each application and make the final decision on the award of the 2022 scholarship (including whether or not to award a scholarship). Entries will be reviewed on a blind basis by the Scholarship Committee.

The Scholarship Committee will judge applications on the basis of relative merit with reference to the following criteria:

• Demonstrated understanding of consumer trends in Australia.
• Consideration of the needs and pain points of Australian consumers when making purchase decisions, and the type of information they would require.
• Use of relevant domestic and/or international examples.
• Creativity and ability to write in a clear, compelling, original and engaging way.

By submitting an application, the Applicant declares that the Essay is the Applicant’s original work, not copied or derived from any other works or material, has not been published prior to the scholarship submission, and does not infringe the intellectual property rights or moral rights of any third party.

By submitting an application, the Applicant assigns to Canstar Blue the copyright in the Essay answer, and irrevocably consents to Canstar Blue using and publishing the Essay answer (including on the Canstar Blue website) and to using any information in the Essay answer to improve or change any Canstar Blue product or service (including the Canstar Blue website).

By submitting an application, the Applicant irrevocably consents to Canstar Blue using the Applicant’s name, image and educational institution name in marketing material and publicity in relation to this scholarship.

Canstar Blue reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to not award any scholarship if there are no eligible Applicants. The decision of the Scholarship Committee is final.

The Scholarship will be granted following any Applicant verification that Canstar Blue requires, in its absolute discretion.

The 2022 Canstar Blue Future of Comparison Scholarship will be announced and awarded in January 2023.

The scholarship winner will be notified via the email address provided on the application form within one week of the Scholarship Committee determining the scholarship winner.

Results may be published on Canstar Blue’s website or any other publication. Canstar Blue reserves the right to reproduce in any newspaper, magazine, film, website or other medium, personal details, information and images relating to the Scholarship awarded to the scholarship winner. 

Each Applicant must, until 31 December 2023:

• refrain from conducting themselves in such a manner that Canstar Blue, in its discretion, considers prejudicial to the reputation of Canstar Blue;
• engage with Canstar Blue’s representatives from time to time as deemed mutually suitable, to report on Scholarship related activities;
• participate in marketing and media activities as required.

7. Amount

The scholarship amount will be paid to the scholarship winner in two equal instalments. The first will be upon the award of the scholarship and the second payment will be in July 2023, provided that the Applicant makes good progress in their studies and subject to these terms and conditions. The payment dates will be determined by Canstar Blue at Canstar Blue’s absolute discretion, and will be communicated to the scholarship winner in a timely manner.

The scholarship winner will have to provide bank details to receive the monetary element of the prize.

Payment of the first instalment is, at all times, conditional upon the scholarship winner providing Canstar Blue with:

• written confirmation from the relevant university of the scholarship winner’s enrolment;
• evidence of Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

Payment of the second instalment is, at all times, conditional upon the scholarship winner continuing to comply with the expectations described in clause 6 above.

The scholarship winner may forfeit any unpaid instalment of the scholarship amount if they change their course of study or if Canstar Blue reasonably considers that their conduct is not consistent with the objectives of the scholarship or clause 6 above.

8. Breach

In the event that the scholarship winner fails to comply with any of the requirements set out in these Terms and Conditions, in addition to all other rights available to it, Canstar Blue may, in its absolute discretion, require the scholarship winner to repay, in part or in total, monies paid to the scholarship winner by Canstar Blue in connection with the award of the Scholarship.