Travis Germain will have the best possible start when he attends university this month thanks to the support of the Gold Fields Australia Foundation.

The Eastern Goldfields Collage graduate was awarded a scholarship of $6000 per annum for the duration of his degree, on Friday enabling him to begin a Bachelor of Engineering at the University of Western Australia.

The Gold Fields Australia Foundation donates a portion of the revenue from the St Ives and Agnew gold mines to give bright young indigenous students a head start at university.

Program facilitator Phil Paioff said the Gold Fields Australia Foundation was unique because companies often threw money at communities without much structure, but Gold Fields was “encouraging and proactive”.