Frequently Asked Questions

The Adelaide Graduate Award is a free and voluntary employability program. Any student currently enrolled in a degree at the University of Adelaide can participate in the Award.

The Award is a structured program that encourages participation in, develops learning through, and formally recognises achievements from extra-curricular activities. Participating in the Award can help you develop transferable employability skills that employers tell us they are looking for, giving you an edge when applying for graduate roles.

Get started with the Award as early as possible in your degree to gain the most value from the program.

To be eligible for the Award, you must complete the following by 15 March (Semester 1) or 15 August (Semester 2) in the final year of your degree (at the very latest):

• Register online
• Complete the mandatory MyUni Online Orientation
• Submit your Development Plan

Once the above tasks are complete, you have until the deadlines in your final study period to complete the 150 hours of extra-curricular activities and other Award components. For information about the specific deadlines that apply to you, please see our 'Deadlines' page in CareerHub.

To include an activity towards your Award, it must meet all the following eligibility requirements: 

1. Be experiential: you must be actively involved in the activity (experiential "learning through doing");
2. Develop your employability skills: you must be able to demonstrate that you have developed specific skills and have learned something from the activity;
3. Be extra-curricular (it can’t be for course credit or a requirement of your degree or lead to a qualification at another institution);
4. Align with one of the three categories in the Award (University Community; Global, Social and Cultural; Creativity and Innovation);
5. Be undertaken while enrolled in your current degree at the University of Adelaide; and
6. You must be able to provide adequate evidence of your participation hours.

Volunteering

• With the University, AUU, or an external organisation.

Volunteering Australia describes volunteering as “time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain.” For the Award, volunteering can be done with a not-for-profit, community, faith-based or government organisation. Volunteering cannot be undertaken with a for-profit business/employer.

You must complete a minimum of 30 hours of volunteering for the Award.

Paid work

• Part-time/casual work in any industry (for example, retail, hospitality, or fast food sectors).
• Self-employment - running your own business.

Personal / professional development

• Activities such as the Career Access Mentoring program, Global IQ Connect, Women in STEM Careers program, participating in a hackathon, entering a competition, or writing for On Dit magazine.

As part of the Award, you are expected to self-manage your progress through the program, including finding your own opportunities for volunteering, paid work, and professional development.

The University doesn’t help you source activities for the Award, but to help you get started, here's a handy list of resources you can use to find opportunities:

• University Volunteer Program
• AUU Volunteering
• Volunteering SA&NT
• CareerHub
• Activity Ideas list

When trying to choose activities, the first thing you need to do is think about what sort of experience you want to gain. Is there a particular employability skill you want to develop? What are some of your personal interests?

If there is an activity that you are thinking of doing and you want advice on whether it will qualify for the Award, you can contact us at graduateaward@adelaide.edu.au. 

You can include any eligible activities you've completed since you started your current degree at the University of Adelaide (even if you did the activities before registering for the Award).

You will need to provide appropriate evidence of your participation hours and link the activity to developing employability skills through a written self-reflection. 

The three Award categories are:

• University Community
• Global, Cultural and Social
• Creativity and Innovation

Please see our 'About the Award Categories' page in CareerHub for detailed information about the categories and examples of activities for each category.

The aim of the program is to encourage you to get involved in a broad range of activities, which is why we require you to do activities from at least two out of the three Award categories. 

By completing activities in at least two different categories, you will enhance your employability, extend your skillset, and become a more well-rounded graduate.  

You will need to provide adequate evidence to verify your participation hours in each activity. In most cases, the evidence should be from an official third-party source such as your employer or volunteer organisation. 

Please see our 'Activity Evidence Requirements' page in CareerHub for detailed information about the evidence required for different activities. 

It's your responsibility to gather and provide adequate evidence to support your activity claims.

All Award tasks are submitted through your personal online Award Checklist in CareerHub.

The Award is a stage by stage process; you cannot progress to the next Award task until the previous task has been completed in your Award Checklist. Each Award task has its own individual deadline, which you must meet.

After registering for the Award, you gain access to the Award Checklist. Log in to your Award Checklist regularly to check your progress with the Award and see your next steps.

Offshore students can participate in the Award program. Any eligible paid work or volunteering (done with a charity or not-for-profit organisation) that you complete in your home country is eligible for the Award.

To participate in the Award, you’ll need to submit a registration form and complete the mandatory MyUni Online Orientation course. You will be emailed details about how to complete the orientation once you have submitted your registration form.

No, the Adelaide Graduate Award is a co-curricular program, so you will not get academic credit awarded towards your degree program, but you will gain skills and experiences that employers value. 

If you achieve the Award, it will be formally acknowledged on your transcript.

You can contact the Award team for information about the Adelaide Graduate Award at graduateaward@adelaide.edu.au.