David Grace Award

David Grace was employed at the Victoria Forensic Science Centre for many years as a Forensic Officer in the Biology Division.  David was also a long serving, dedicated and enthusiastic member of the ANZFSS committee in Victoria.  In his position as head “Technical Officer”, he was responsible for the training and development of other Biology technical staff.  David strongly believed that it was important for his staff to be given similar opportunities to caseworkers in order to develop their skills. One example of his initiative to provide such opportunities was to send his staff to crime scenes to assist caseworkers.  He also felt that he and other technical staff would benefit from attending seminars and was very keen for this to occur

David tragically died on September 30th, 1996 whilst on an Army Reserve training exercise.

In memory of David’s contribution to the ANZFSS over many years and his dedication as a Forensic Officer, the Committee has established a Memorial Scholarship in his name to enable the recipient to attend an ANZFSS Symposium.  The scholarship is awarded to a member of the ANZFSS (Victorian Branch) who would not normally have the opportunity to go to a symposium and meets the requirements below.  You may also be required to attend an interview. If no suitable application is received the Award may not be presented or may be otherwise distributed, at the discretion of the Victorian Branch committee.

Requirements to apply (at discretion of the Branch Committee):

1. The applicant is employed by a recognised forensic service provider in either a support role (technical/non-casework reporting officer role) or who has 3 years or less experience in a junior casework role (entry level court reporting role/new practitioner).
2. The applicant has not previously been to a forensic science symposium.
3. The applicant is a financial member of the ANZFSS-Victorian Branch and has been for at least twelve months
4. The successful applicant will be required to provide an article for the ANZFSS newsletter summarising their experiences at the Symposium

The Award will fund the successful applicant up to a total of $2500, including registration fee to the 23rd Triennial Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences
in conjunction with the 27th Symposium of the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society, and additional assistance for travel and accommodation expenses.

Applications will be assessed by the Branch Committee (or delegated sub-committee). At the discretion of the Committee, the Award may not be presented or may default to a Branch Award, if no suitable application is received.

The closing date for applications is 23/02/2025 23:59 AEST.

All funds must be claimed/finalised within the same financial year as the conference.

Accessibility Disclaimer:

We are committed to ensuring that our forms are accessible to all users. If you encounter any accessibility issues and would like this application in another format or have suggestions for improvement, please contact us through the form.

A quick summary of the questions if you would like to prepare your application offline first:

  • Contact details
  • ANZFSS Involvement (Date Joined/Meeting attendance/Contributions to your local branch)
  • Other Funding information (if applicable)
  • Please provide below the reasons why you are applying for the scholarship, what you think you would get out of going to the symposium and why you should be chosen. Applicants are asked to consider in addition to the above; the benefits to themselves both personally and professionally, the benefits to the Victoria Branch, the benefits to the society, the benefits to the symposium, the benefits to their organisation and anything else the applicant thinks is relevant to support their application. Whilst there is no limit on the field length, applicants are advised to keep it less than two A4 pages size 12 font.
  • Presentation information (if applicable)

Please direct any further questions to the Victoria Branch through the contact page.

We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice. In the event that any changes are made, the revised terms and conditions shall be posted on this website immediately and will be communicated to applicants.

Thank you!