Our aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) scholarship program supports the aviation industry and helps improve safety.
There’s a shortage of skilled maintenance engineers in Australia and worldwide. This program helps develop capable, safety-focused professionals by supporting AMEs on their path to licensing.
We offer 3 scholarships to help aircraft maintenance engineers (AME) work towards their licence. The scholarships are open to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria and encourage people to pursue a career in aviation maintenance. Each scholarship is worth $5,000 (plus GST).
Applications for the 2026 scholarships are now closed.
Meet our AME scholarship graduates
Our scholarship winners show the strong talent in aviation maintenance. They work across many roles and aircraft types, with a clear focus on safety and improving their skills. Their stories have been featured in Flight Safety Australia.
2025
- Jacob Mani, Jetstar
- Aaron Pollard
- Hudson Dagge, Royal Flying Doctor Service
2024
- Kurt Kinlyside, Alliance Airlines
- Mitchell Johnson
- Clark Tidman, Aviair
2023
- Ella Watson
- Josh Kilgour
- Spencer Holmes
2022
- Jack Calloway
- Sam Philpot
- James Gaha
- Luke Dufficy
- Hayden McDonald
2021
- Deborah Dewar
- Frank Watkins
- Preelan Naidoo
- Madison Candy
- Daniel Catterall
General scholarship conditions
The following conditions apply to the scholarship:
- An eligible recipient can claim the scholarship amount by providing us with proof of costs to achieve competencies associated with AME licencing.
- The scholarship applies to only the recipient and cannot be transferred to anyone else or redeemed in any other way.
- CASA will reimburse the recipient for qualification costs up to the scholarship amount. We will transfer the amount to a nominated bank account. The scholarship amount excludes the cost of tools.
Each scholarship will reimburse a recipient's costs towards achieving a CASA Part 66 AME licence by:
- successfully completing progressive competencies through a maintenance training organisation (MTO). Make sure the MTO is a CASA approved organisation under Part 147
- using a CASA approved alternative training pathway and demonstrating successful completion of competencies.
You must demonstrate successful completion of competencies by the end of the scholarship period to claim the scholarship amount. We do consider special circumstances.
Scholarship guidelines
The aircraft maintenance engineering scholarships are for anyone looking to become a licenced aircraft maintenance engineer (LAME). Our scholarships provide financial support to AMEs to help them progress towards achieving their CASR Part 66 AME licence.
Prerequisites
There are several prerequisites you need to meet before you are eligible for our scholarship. To be eligible, you will need to have:
- started structured training towards a licence outcome or working in the industry gaining experience but haven’t participated in a structured training program
- a minimum of 2 years in the industry with a developing journal of experience
- you don’t have a CASR part 66 B licence
- Australian citizenship or permanent residency.
Preference
Our scholarship prerequisite requirements are broad to allow for a diverse and wide range of applications. This way we have a larger pool of suitable and deserving applicants we can select from.
We will apply a preference to applicants who are closer to meeting the requirements for applying for issue of an initial CASR Part 66 AME licence.
We want to help those that have demonstrated:
- an interest in aviation maintenance
- made progress through initiative
- portrayed a high standard of aptitude
- promotes a positive safety culture.
While the scholarship may not cover all the costs of CASR Part 66 AME licence training, it does encourage continuing education and training to achieve one.
Category B licence
We prefer scholarship applicants who are aiming for a Category B licence. Category B licences best meets the requirements of the broader aircraft maintenance industry.