ahahaha so instead of doing my assignment due tomorrow, i am trawling bored of studies, and i thought since michael's helped me out before on here i'd do the same :D
atm i'm actually studying with michael in med, and i can totally recommend him as a tutor - while it's been some time since hsc he...
It's based on financial need (high UAI didn't factor into mine, i think), I applied for one under comparable circumstances to which you've divulged and was not awarded one. There are actually only a few awarded afaik, though ymmv.
Don't worry guys, generally the cutoffs don't change that much from year to year, and yeah, ~1ATAR over would be pretty safe I think. They change due to supply and demand - so it depends if lots of people want to do that particular course this year or not, hahaha.
Best of luck to all those who...