Leadership Prizes

The Australian Government established the Graeme Wilson and Sandra Vegting Leadership Prizes in remembrance of the life and achievements of HE Graeme Wilson, Australia’s High Commissioner to South Africa from 2012-2014 and HE Sandra Vegting, Australia’s High Commissioner to Mauritius from 2011-2014.  The Australian High Commissions in Pretoria and Port Louis award the two respective prizes to meritorious scholars annually.  The Graeme Wilson and Sandra Vegting Leadership Prizes are in the form of additional funds (also called an additional entitlement) allocated to the recipients for on-award enrichment development activities.  

Purpose and intended impact 

The Prizes help eligible scholars to identify and undertake activities that will develop their leadership and people skills and contribute to their academic and professional goals and networks. This development will enrich their reintegration success once they return to Africa.  

The universities administered the prize money as part of the recipient’s scholarship entitlements. Recipients may apply for chunks of funding for multiple activities over the period of their Australia Award scholarship.  The funding may, for example, support: 

• attendance at relevant conferences and seminars 
• opportunities for additional skills development, or 
• short-term work placements or experiential training which the university does not offer.