The scholarship was established for young women in 1911. The age and gender criteria were incorporated into the Catherine Helen Spence Scholarship. The document that determines administration of this scholarship was developed with the assistance of both Crown Law and the Master of the Supreme Court in South Australia.
The committee may, having regard to the relative merits of the candidates and considering it appropriate to do so, award the scholarship to a woman who is resident in SA at the time of the selection of the scholar but does not fulfill either or both of the requirements in relation to age or length of residence in the state.
