While I am very appreciative that, every year, there are a considerable number of qualified people who are interested in doing PhD studies with our Computer Systems group at RSCS, there is a considerable amount of time and emotional investment (on both sides) in going about the process of applying. If you are about to contact me for the first time on this, please read below. If you go ahead with contacting me, please state clearly whether you need financial support from the ANU.
Note that the costs include fees of approximately AUS$ 37K p.a.; living expenses are at least AUS$ 20K p.a. Note also that in order to get a visa, you need to be able to show that you have already secured funding covering both of these for at least 1 year before entering Australia.
In RSCS, there are no (official) Teaching or Research Assistantships. Part-time tutoring and sometimes research programming work is available, but this can serve only as a supplement to other sources of income.
One possibility for applicants from participating countries is the Endeavor Postgraduate Awards which provides full funding for up to 4 years. These close around the end of July for commencing study in the following year. There may be a second round closing in January (to commence in July of the following year). There is also the China Scholarship Council scholarships for Chinese applicants.
ANU and our College have limited scholarships available for international PhDs applicants (and even less for Masters by Research). The generally available ones are the ANU Tuition Fee Scholarship (tuition fees; and the ANU PhD Scholarship (living expenses). The main scholarship round (for the start of next year) closes at the end of August. There is normally a smaller mid-year round, closing at the end of April. The competitiveness of these varies from year to year: e.g. the 2014 round had 4 scholarships for 150 applicants, whereas the 2015 round had ~20 for 100.
In my experience over the last 5 years, to have a reasonable chance, an applicant needs to be: in the top 5% of graduates, and from one of the best institutions in their country, or from the top 200 or so universities in the world (its not sufficient just to have the equivalent of First-Class Honours).
The `equivalent of First-Class Honours' also includes a research thesis (half a year's full-time study, normally taken in the last year). Many overseas 4-year degrees with a Honours distinction do not have this component; applicants with such a degree might not be competitive for scholarships, unless they can otherwise demonstrate their potential for research (e.g. in research publications). Note that ANU does provide a Master of Computing (Advanced) with such a component; it can be completed in one year for students with a 4-year CS degree.
Other factors which will help include having a number of refereed papers in the area of proposed research (preferably in major international conferences or journals, or other evidence of strong impact) and having referees which are either known to people within the ANU or have a known international standing.
It is also necessary to submit a research proposal with your application which proposes to explore an area of interesting research, is tractable, is well aligned with our current interests, and clearly demonstrates your understanding of the area of study. Note that neither the proposal nor its topic is binding; it can be changed by mutual negotiation at a later stage.
If you have the opportunity to gain your own scholarship (e.g. from a scheme in your home country), that may well be a more likely prospect. While I have sometimes have scholarships for specific projects, these are normally only available to Australian citizens or residents. In any case, they will not cover tuition fees. One possibility would be to apply for Australian residency, if you meet the required conditions (this takes about 6 months). Note that once residency is gained, it is much easier to get general ANU scholarships as well.
Finally, note that to get admitted at all to ANU, you definitely need to meet ANU's English language requirements.
Some useful links: