The vendor association announced the new bursary at a drinks event in Sydney, where it also revealed a new look, under the tagline “Engaged, passionate and relevant”.

See our photo gallery from the event

The $15,000 grant replaces the previous GAMAA scholarship and workshop program.

GAMAA president Ian Martin said: “Over the past eight years, GAMAA has awarded 38 further education scholarships and conducted more than 20 industry-dedicated workshops focused on fostering leadership skills in our industry.

“The launch of the new GAMAA Industry Overseas Internship Grant is a further extension of our Leadership Program and is reflective of GAMAA’s commitment to working towards a sustainable industry.”

During the event, which was held at The Establishment on 25 October, previous recipients of the grant spoke about how GAMAA had helped them.

Kelly Bourke, now sales manager at SOS Print & Media, said: “I was very lucky to be awarded one of these scholarships. It provided me with an opportunity to study for my post graduate in business administration, and to attend the workshops twice a year with lecturers of the highest calibre.”

Stephen McRobert, manager of graphic services at the NSW Department of Lands, gave a heartfelt recollection of his experience, which started with a single workshop put on by GAMAA.

“I’ll never forget that first morning when I walked into that workshop, people were hugging each other and giving high fives and the course hadn’t even started. For a country boy, I was thinking, what the hell? But by morning tea that first day I knew I was onto something really special.

“After that course, I applied as quick as I could and I was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship,” said McRobert.

The new internship program will cover printing, new media, graphic design and marketing. The recipient will draw on what he or she learns overseas to prepare a research paper documenting the experience and how it can be applied to the Australian market.

The trade association also showed off its new logo. “Engaged, passionate and relevant – these words represent the core of the GAMAA brand and we believe our new logo reflects the energy, enthusiasm and commitment the GAMAA members have for our industry,” said Martin.

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