The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has awarded two student scholarships under the Brian Gray Scholarship Program to:

• Lyn McDougall, Queensland University of Technology, Bachelor of Business (Honours); and
• Callum Jones, University of Western Australia, Bachelor of Economics (Honours) / Bachelor of Law.

The Program was established by APRA and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in September 2002 in memory of Brian Gray, APRA's former Executive General Manager – Policy, Research and Consulting. Mr Gray spent more than two decades shaping regulatory policy in the financial area in his role at the RBA and later at APRA.

The Brian Gray Scholarship Program funds up to four scholarships annually to the value of $12,500 each. While the Program focuses on honours year students, postgraduate students can also apply. It is open to Australia and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, who are currently studying a topic of relevance to prudential regulation.

Recipients of the scholarships displayed a blend of excellent academic results and a strong interest in issues relevant to financial institutions. Under the terms of the program, they will be required to devote a substantial amount of time to an agreed research topic.

Topics for this year's Program include:

• examination of default options for superannuation funds; and
• measurement of house prices using a characteristics-based approach.

More information on the Brian Gray Scholarship is available on APRA's web site at http://www.apra.gov.au

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the financial services industry. It oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry. APRA is funded largely by the industries that it supervises. It was established on 1 July 1998. APRA currently supervises institutions holding approximately $3 trillion in assets for 21 million Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.

Media and industry inquiries only:
Andrew McCutcheon, Public Affairs Manager

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

Telephone: 02 9210 3384  

Mobile: 0417 528 660

All other inquiries:
APRA Contact Centre 1300 131 060.